I’ve spent a lot of time with people like Lady Gaga and other writers and would write down all of their tricks. “Then I did some other co-writes with people who sung their own songs, like Passion Pit and other Columbia artists that I happened to love - I felt like a teenage intern. I used to think they’re only words, how hard can it be? But it turned out that the whole process was just as intricate as the technical side of production and from that point on I realised music would always stay fulfilling because I’d always be able to entertain my brain technically and my heart creatively. I was also struck by how profound the art of songwriting was. “The weight and meaning behind his words and how you could modify and reinvent melodies like they were an equation. He’s a genius, so it was fascinating to see his whole process.” One of the most striking ones was with Jimmy Napes. I loved the idea of making my own DIY fantasy and wanted to preserve that feeling, but also to understand what songwriting was about, so the label set up some sessions. Although I was reaching out for advice, I wanted to keep that original feeling of Madeon being self-made. “I was signed to Columbia in 2012 but they gave me complete creative control. Were the co-writers and session players you worked with arranged via the label? It’s truer on my new record because there are psychedelic influences, brass sounds and Rickenbacker bass, but my influences are not always sonic - they can be a commitment to a palette of sounds, a vibe or just the idea of trying to reinvent myself.”Ĭonsidering your debut album Adventure was recorded when you were just 21, it had a very mature sound. “On the new album, there’s a song that’s basically a Beatles song in spirit, but I think the link is very clear in all of my work. Some people might be surprised to learn that The Beatles are also an influence of yours? However, my taste was so pop-oriented that I couldn’t help but make lots of melodies, chords and arrangements, which became a theme for the music I was making.” “At that time I wasn’t aware of club culture and had never been to a live show or seen a DJ, so I could only analyse dance music as a technical achievement. We had this rivalry where we’d chase styles of music that were explicitly complex to make by chopping up and layering sounds. I’d already met Porter Robinson - we were friends and used to talk on instant chat. “The sound of the music I was making was informed by the music I loved but also by a certain production discipline. Was the sound based on the same artists that inspired you to make that mashup? Within a year of Pop Culture you’d released your first EP. I just wanted to create and have a sense of ownership over whatever I made, and music was just another one of my hobbies.” If I read a book I’d try to write a book or if I played a video game I would try to programme one on my dad’s computer. Whenever a piece of art moved me, I wanted to create my own version. “A theme of my childhood was imitation and creation. When most consumers listen to electronic music they don’t necessarily think about where the sounds come from, so what birthed your sense of inquisitiveness? It didn’t work, but I immediately got attracted to the idea of audio manipulation and sound design.” At first I thought their sounds were all based on voices with effects on them, so I started singing into a karaoke microphone, loading it into Audacity and adding every effect until I sounded like Daft Punk.
With Daft Punk it was almost a case of reverse engineering.
IMPORTING OLD FLSTUDIO 4 SOUNDS TO FL STUDIO 7 SOFTWARE
“When people mentioned the word synthesizer I didn’t even understand what it meant, so I tried to make sense of it by using software to unlock that puzzle. How did that influence you in practical terms? I had a good sense of how rock music was made because I could see a guitar, but I didn’t feel the same way about synthesizers and vocoders because it all seemed so foreign and magical.”
Within 40 minutes I’d heard snippets from all of their famous songs and the sounds they used struck me as being inexplicable. “When I was 11 there was a Daft Punk documentary on TV. I was more interested in the idea of being able to improvise and show there was a clear connection between my brain and the music you heard through using this tool.”ĭid you want to make music prior to discovering gear or was it the gear that inspired you to make music? I tried to make it more visual by accentuating my hand movements but it was actually quite trivial to rehearse and manage. My memory’s hazy but I’d tested the concept based on an Akai MPC-style layout just to make sure, although Pop Culture was not a difficult piece to perform.
I did a lot of magic and puzzles so I had a movement style that was informed by that.
“No, but a lot of my hobbies involved my hands.
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