Album review

JL Murat

From Auvergne to the USA

Paris 

24/08/1999 - 

Jean-Louis Murat is back in the music news this month with a spirited new album entitled "Mustango". It's almost 100% sure that Murat's new album (released on Labels on 24th August) will be almost totally ignored by French media, even though "Jim", the first single release from the album, has an infectiously catchy tempo. However, Murat can rely on a strong following of fans who have been loyal to him since they discovered his seminal album "Cheyenne Autumn" ten years ago. Thanks to these more discerning members of the French music public, 43-year-old Murat is now the best-selling artist of the "new French chanson" movement.

"Mustango", recorded in the U.S. with a host of talented musicians including Marc Ribot and the group Calexico, looks set to become an important milestone in Murat's discography. In fact, the new album features a whole series of outstanding tracks c.f. "Au Mont Sans-Souci", "Les Gonzesses et les pédés" and "Polly Jean" (a song inspired by English rock diva PJ Harvey). To celebrate the release of this new masterpiece, RFI-Musique went along to meet Jean-Louis Murat, philosopher, eternal grumbler and chanteur extraordinaire .

Jean-Louis, why did you choose to record your new album in the States?
I felt like getting away from my usual surroundings and working with a bunch of real musicians. Basically, I wanted to take a few risks on the new album and get out of France for a while. I'm not pro-American or anything but I stayed out in the States for four months and believe me, it's really an ideal place to play and record music. There's a really great atmosphere out there - the musicians are all really competent, the studios are pleasant to work in and it felt like the album just happened with the minimum of effort. When I was out in the States I went out to concerts every night and I'd go up to guys at the end of the show and say, "Hey, I love the way you play. Do you want to come and work with me?" And that was it! I ended up working in New York, then Tucson in Arizona. In fact, I worked with a lot of different people, recording with Calexico, Bob Dylan's musicians and a mixer from the rap world who's worked with the likes of Public Enemy and Nas. What's more, I got on really well with everybody. I was lucky enough to meet a bunch of curious, open-minded people who were into the idea of working with a French musician for a change.

A few years ago, on the occasion of your first tour, you declared that touring gives you absolutely no pleasure at all. Given that you're about to hit the road again in October, should we presume you've had a recent change of heart?
I've never seen the point of setting off on tour immediately after releasing an album. It used to be different in the old days. Right up until the 70s, in fact, things were the other way round - singers used to go on tour and test their songs out on stage then go into the studio to record their album. The way I see it, that's the most natural way of going about things. But these days the record business has turned the whole process upside down. There's nothing natural about locking yourself away in a recording studio for months on end, working in a vacuum. Then when you do finally emerge from your 'laboratory' and try your songs out on a live audience you end up realising they're a bit shaky ... I hope nobody's expecting me to go out and do a live version of what I've been working on 'in vitro'!
Speak to any real musician and they'll tell you that their songs really start coming together after three or four months on the road. That's the moment you have to go into the studio and start recording. These days I actually prefer touring to being in the studio. In fact, when I'm in the studio all I can think about is getting back up on stage. Last time I finished touring I really missed being up in front of a live audience every night. When I recorded my album this time round I really tried to give it a natural, spontaneous feel so that I'd enjoy performing the songs live afterwards.

Is your new tour going to be in the same style as your last - i.e. just you and one other musician up on stage?
The way I see it, the current French vogue for minimalism and simple concert formats isn't a choice - it's a direct result of market forces and the way the record industry is being run right now. When I go out and do a pared-down minimalist tour it's not because I think "Oh it'd be great to do something really minimalist this time round! I have to keep things pared down because we have to keep costs down. And if I end up on stage on my own or with one other musician and a bunch of machines, it's not by choice - but because you don't have to give machines paid holidays and social security cheques!

But a lot of other French musicians claim that the current vogue for simple, acoustic shows is an artistic choice …
I'd say people talk a lot of hypocritical rubbish in this profession - musicians are even worse than politicians on that score!

And you're never hypocritical yourself?
Well, one thing's for sure - I'd have sold a lot more records and made a lot more friends in the music business if I'd learnt to keep my big mouth shut! No, the kind of music I like is only good if it's authentic, if it comes straight from the heart. I don't believe musicians can make a good record if they can't look people straight in the eye and tell the truth when they're asked a question. And, believe me, that can cause quite a few problems in an interview situation - because this business generally revolves around hypocrisy. The problem is, I just wasn't brought up to behave like that.

So how were you brought up?
I was brought up to be a great talker - my mother, in particular, always encouraged me to speak my mind. I grew up in the countryside, in a farming environment and let me tell you that in that environment lying is considered to be the worst thing you can do. You either keep your mouth shut or you speak the truth. It's as simple as that! Country folk don't waste their time trying to dupe each other - lying is a city thing!

Jean-Louis, you once had a reputation for being a bit of an Angry Young Man - are you still just as angry these days?
Yes, I'm pissed off that I'm always labelled as an 'angry' singer. And I'm pissed off that I still don't have any real power. I'd like to make a bit of money so I could create a few jobs, get my friends work and all that. I'm also pissed off that when I see that the best French musicians have to clear off to New York before they can get anything going. I've got a tendency to get worked up about things and that really makes me mad. I also hate the fact that society forces me to think so much!
Would you like to have the opportunity of working more often?
Yes, I'd like to tour more. I'd like to set up my own label and help other people get work ... For me, music is a collective thing. My music only assumes meaning when it's compared with what other musicians are doing at the same time. I don't work in a vacuum, independently of the general level of music in France.
I don't like it when critics say I've had any kind of musical influence. They always end up using adjectives like "miserable", "minimalist", "misanthropic" and "depressive", as if anybody that's into my music must fall into one of these categories. I'm totally against this. I've never set out to be any of those things!
In fact, when I left France and went abroad I realised that it's all to do with context. Given my personality if you put me in the wrong context I behave like that - it's all a question of conditioning!

But you can't deny that you've had some form of musical influence. Dominique A, for example, claims that you've made an impact on the French music business by proving to record companies - as well as fellow musicians - that it's possible to be a successful artist without conforming to the norm …
Well, I beg to differ on that one. I'd say there's a huge element of luck involved. It just so happened that I came along with the right kind of music at the right time. And when I started selling over 100,000 albums, suddenly every single record company in France wanted to have their own Jean-Louis Murat. I wouldn't call that creating a movement. I'd put that down to the record companies' stupid copycat habits!

You still live in the Puy de Dôme region, not far from the village where you were born. Do you still feel attached to your Overhang roots?
Less and less really. These days the countryside and the farming community are no longer what they were. Things are changing a lot as the old folk go into retirement and farms are taken over by grandsons and nephews with more 'modern' ideas. It's terrible to see what this new breed of farmers is doing to the animals and the environment. Where I live a lot of local farmers have made deals with factories in Limagne where they battery-farm chickens and they've started dumping their waste up in the hills, right up at an altitude of 1500 metres. I live in a little hamlet up there and for weeks on end we can't open the windows because of the stench!
Modern farming methods have done away with ploughing and hedge-planting and the whole place has been invaded by rats. So the farmers put down huge doses of bromide to get rid of the rats and end up poisoning all the foxes! Basically, I'm in love with the old way of peasant life in Auvergne. And as time moves on, that way of life becomes more and more removed from the reality of modern-day Auvergne!

Bertrand  Dicale

Translation : Julie  Street