INTO SPACE

One hour outside of Paris, somewhere on the Seine, stands a chateaux which boasts more Moogs and Mellotrons than you can shake a stick at. But that’s not even the half of it. As I step foot into this electronic music haven, I reflect on the first time Jean-Michel Jarre and I met, almost exactly 10 years ago - in his green room at Wembley Arena in 2013 where, unannounced, I wandered in and asked him for an interview. Somewhat surprised to see me sat on his sofa before he made it from the stage, the electronic music pioneer was a true gent, and gladly gave me 15 minutes.

I asked him what his vision was for the future of electronic music, and will always remember his reply, and how true it became: “In my opinion, the next step [for electronic music] is to mix analogue synths with digital equipment. We have already carried out a number of experiments such as comparing new ‘virtual’ Mellotron sounds against the original, and the difference was amazing. It’s like playing a Stradivarius and having the sound of a violin on a virtual synth; two different worlds.”

As I sit down with Jarre today, this time in his beautiful studio, he smiles as I remind him of that moment. I ask him if he has a habit of making such profound predictions.

“[laughs] Well, maybe… It’s kind of a living animal, this place, with all the chaotic vibes that it defines,” Jarre reflects, waving an arm towards the control room which houses an abundance of analogue kit. And that’s not including the ‘museum’ of equipment I’ve been gawking at in the adjacent room prior to this interview. “I always thought of this as a place of constant mutation and change; soon I’m moving into another studio quite close to here, and re-designing and repurposing the old cabin.”

Conversation turns to Oxymore, Jarre’s latest project, which is based on an idea he had to pay tribute to the roots of electronic music and the continental European way of doing electro acoustic and electronic music.

“Everything in these genres started in Continental Europe - in Germany, France, and Italy; it was nothing to do with the jazz, rock or blues from the US,” Jarre insists. “We have this heritage from classical music where we were not trapped into the pop format of three minutes, and with this kind of approach – especially in France – people such as Pierre Henry are in my opinion the real pioneers.

“The way we are doing music these days is actually directly linked to what they did in the late ‘40s, where people suddenly felt that it could be cool to introduce noise into orchestral sounds and combine that with the field recording process – mixing sounds of nature or the city with orchestral sounds or electric sounds.”

So some of these classical composers were way ahead of their time, then?

“Indeed. In the late ‘40s they created more or less everything we are doing now,” nods Jarre. “For example, Stravinsky was avant-garde, and then 30 years later his music became