 |
  |
Air's Pocket Symphony
Outsiders for life
Paris
16/03/2007 -
RFI Musique: It's been three years since the release of Air's last album, Talkie Walkie. But you haven't exactly been idle in the interim, have you? There's been your solo album, Darkel, Jean-Benoît, and, of course, the writing and recording of Charlotte Gainsbourg's new album, 5:55…
Jean-Benoît Dunckel: …And that's not including all the work we've done that hasn't been released! You know how certain film actors say that it's healthy to work in the theatre every now and then. Well, we're the same. We can't make records without practising our instruments, without keeping in touch with what's going on out there. It's like you have to look after yourself if you want to stop yourself getting sick. When you're out on the road on tour, you've got to keep fit and healthy. We're like cosmonauts in that respect. (Laughs).
Nicolas Godin: You've got to feed body and soul! If you don't, you end up with that old cliché of an album filled with songs about hotel rooms and life on the road. We have to keep lots of side projects on the go. And that means getting out there and seeing films and exhibitions, listening to stacks of records and analysing songs all the time. I've been busy learning to play Japanese instruments, too…
Yes, I noticed that you play the koto and the shamisen on certain tracks on the new album …
Nicolas Godin: That's something that's been germinating away for a few years now, actually. I'd say it's a musical style that's been there in a lot of songs we've done in the past, but that we'd never taken all the way before. Well, we've done it now and I think I'm ready to move on to something else.
How do you go about working with producer Nigel Godrich who's already made two albums with you, not including the Charlotte Gainsbourg album?
Nicolas Godin: It's pretty complicated, actually. There are tracks where he does everything and then again tracks where he does nothing, because there's really nothing to do.
Jean-Benoît Dunckel: We have this system of non-communication between us that's absolutely necessary.
Jarvis Cocker (ex-Pulp) and Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) both stepped in to provide guest vocals on the album. They also collaborated on Charlotte Gainsbourg's album with you. Is this some kind of new artistic 'family'?
Nicolas Godin: It's more of a team thing. We hooked up together on Charlotte's album and you know what they say: "Opportunity makes the thief!" We never actually sat down and asked ourselves "Who can we call in as guest stars on our album?"
Air emerged on the music scene ten years ago now and you've enjoyed an exceptionally long run compared to other groups and artists who launched their careers at the same time. What do you attribute that to?
Nicolas Godin: The majority of groups belonged to a certain musical style and the thing is that style has gone out of fashion now. Even back at the height of all the hype around the "French Touch", we were doing our own thing. And that meant that when a certain musical style went out of fashion, we hung on in there. There's no secret about it – if you're hooked into playing a certain sound, you inevitably disappear when people get sick of that sound. Right from the start, our sound was diametrically opposed to house music. We were out there playing instruments when everyone else was using samplers. Admittedly, we used the "French Touch" as a sort of springboard, but we were always outsiders. We were outside everything really and I think we'll be outsiders all our life, in fact.
You actually finished your album last summer. What have you been working on since?
Nicolas Godin: On Xavier Veilhan's show, Aérolithe (scheduled for performance at the Pompidou Centre, in Paris, on 6 & 7 April). On a joint concert with Phoenix (scheduled for performance in the gardens of the Château de Versailles on 29 June). We've also been busy recruiting musicians for an upcoming tour that we've already started work on.
And will that be as big a production as the last one?
Nicolas Godin: We're certainly going to try and break with routine by going off and playing in places where we've never performed before - like China, for instance.
Jean-Benoît Dunckel: It's going to be a long, drawn-out tour interspersed with breaks where we get to spend time with our families.
Talking of which, is it easy juggling family life with a big international career like yours?
Jean-Benoît Dunckel: I don't think the kind of constraints you're talking about only apply to the music profession. There are plenty of other jobs where fathers have to go off and work a long way from home. The thing with touring is that it requires a sort of military-style organisation where you have to manage everything down to the smallest detail. You have to watch out not to party too hard as well… But it's absolutely indispensable for Air to get out on the road and meet our fans. And the great thing now is that the songs have a solid foundation. We really enjoy playing them live on stage.
But there are certain tracks on the album that seem frankly impossible to transpose live on stage…
Nicolas Godin: Yes, there are plenty of tracks like that. But our repertoire's extensive enough now that we can do without them. Back when Moon Safari came out, half the album was impossible to play live!
Do you have any other collaborations coming up with other artists like the album you've just completed with Charlotte Gainsbourg?
Nicolas Godin: We don't believe in doing the same thing twice. Whether it's a film soundtrack, a dance piece or recording an album for another artist, we like to dip into a totally new domain each time. The idea is to see what you can follow up with next. A priori, it's not our vocation to write material for other artists.
And can you ever see yourselves venturing into an artistic domain other than music?
Nicolas Godin: The thing is, we love music so much that I think we'd be bored doing anything else. I've never once looked at someone else's work and wished that I could do that instead. I mean, I can spend entire days reading Alessandro Baricco's novels, but I've no desire to write a book myself. I just don't want to do anything else. We've been to Hollywood and met the most famous actors in the world, all of them as rich as the Queen of England, but I've never had any desire to do anything other than music.
Jean-Benoît Dunckel: You know, certain actors have actually turned round and said, "Wow! You're so lucky! When you have an idea, you get to sit down and play it, then record it! But I have to wait three days for my script to turn up. And when I do get to perform it, I have to do what I'm told!"
Bertrand Dicale
Translation : Julie Street
16/11/2009 -
22/10/2009 -
22/10/2009 -
31/12/2007 -
29/09/2006 -
30/01/2004 -
01/06/2001 -
27/10/1999 -
06/02/1998 -
