Thomas Bangalter corrects us from the start of our videoconference: of course, the Daft Punk duo that he formed for more than 25 years with his sidekick Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo refused interviews on television, but “it’s fun , because I realize that we have done hundreds of interviews. However, people have the impression that we have not done so. […] Afterwards, it’s true that I’m not used to talking too much between album releases”. That’s good since he has just launched one: the symphonic work Mythologies commissioned by choreographer Angelin Preljocaj and created last July at the Opéra de Bordeaux. Conversation about correspondences, the composer’s instinct and dance.
Discovering for the first time the recording of Mythologies, we naturally look for parallels with the work of Daft Punk — four decisive studio albums released between 1997 and 2013 —, while the most obvious is revealed without even having heard a single measure of Bangalter’s recent work: in duo or solo , this music has the function of making people dance.
“Maybe…” said, thinking aloud Thomas Bangalter, reached at his home in Paris. “It is indeed dance music, but with a different approach. Another dance, another cadence too, but it’s true that the music was written to accompany the choreography — even if it was composed before Angelin Preljocaj conceived the movements of his ballet.
Classical music… with a punk spirit
The musical turn of Bangalter, which goes from creator of disco-house-techno to student of composers of the XIXe century (he cites the influence of Berlioz, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev, the latter belonging to the following century), will appear radical. It should be noted, however, that he already has experience of commissioned works, having signed the soundtracks of a few film and television productions, and that in terms of ballet, he knows all about it: his mother was a dancer, his uncle, a choreographer. “And so, I never stopped seeing contemporary dance in my life. I took this opportunity [d’écrire pour le ballet], because it interested me for a long time. »
“When Angelin approached me, he was already working from the soundtrack of Tron: Legacy [signée Daft Punk, 2010]. He wanted me to mix orchestral and electronic music again. ” Gold Mythologies is, ultimately, entirely orchestral. “What’s funny is that when we were approached to do the music for tron, for the trouble, we were then asked to create entirely electronic music! »
Still, for a first release since the end of Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter could no longer stray from the grooves electronics to which he had accustomed us. A daring gesture to present himself as a classical composer, who will necessarily be compared to the masters named above. Intimidating ? “It’s always intimidating to make music like that,” he replies. I remember when we were working on Random Access Memories [le dernier album de Daft Punk, paru il y a dix ans], we covered the music of the mid-1970s-early 1980s. There are dozens of masterpieces that were made at that time. That too was intimidating, to the point of wondering if there isn’t already too much good music of the genre that has been made. »
Re Mythologies, “What was also intimidating is that the work of composer and orchestrator is something you learn at the conservatory for many years. I had the experience of working with orchestrators, but I also had this slightly punk side, this desire to try myself, as an amateur, as a beginner, knowing a little about what I’m doing, but in the end by not knowing it too much, by following rules while not really following them. I am not a good student: there is a rigor in what I do, but also an unconsciousness, spontaneity. And, as I am an autodidact, accidents happen; I really like working from these accidents. »
Matches
Is it that Mythologies begins a new chapter in his musical life, a way to turn the page? ” I do not believe. Finally, me, I have the impression to continue to advance, answers Bangalter. If there’s anything new, it’s solo work. Even though I had done it before. Among other things during Daft Punk, as evidenced by these few pieces (Trax on Da Rocksin 1995, and Spinal Scratchin 1996) released on its own label, Roulé, which gave us the immortal Music Sounds Better With You of Stardust, the trio he briefly formed with Benjamin Diamond and Alan Braxe.
“Today, I’m post-Daft Punk, after duo work, and I continue to artistically explore ideas that interest me,” adds Bangalter. For example, the relationship between man and technology, from music to music-making machines, “the presence as much as the absence of technology. [Avec Mythologies], I needed to create without these technologies to be able to ask myself different questions. That said, I don’t feel like music provides answers; what interests me is the way she asks questions”.
“I always like to explore things that I haven’t done, and not necessarily fashionable either,” explains Thomas Bangalter. So, it amuses me to explore things, not necessarily new, to bring them up to date. It’s fun to work with certain aspects of romantic and lyrical music, which we don’t necessarily see around us, but that’s what interested me. Afterwards, what also interests me is the contrast between what I do today and the music I made before. Take a piece like Rollin’ scratchin’ [du premier album de Daft Punk, Homework, 1997] and compare it to no two or to Minotaur [de Mythologies], to look for the correspondences, the dialogue, between the two. I’m not turning my back on what we did with Daft Punk, I’m matching it. »