Makina Boy (picture from Paul Langlade)
Here is the original French interview.
For how long have you been making music and with which kind of instrument did you first get in contact?
I’d say I always have played music. Actually, I began around the age of 11. My first instrument, the one I learned to play, was an electronic organ. A Farfisa, double keyboard + bass pedals.
During several years, I learned the basics of classical and jazz music. In an organ school, amongst gleaming and promising synthesizers (Jupiter 8, Juno, DX7), for which I still ignored the interest they will represent).
I remember I discovered at this time, through this instrument, essential / obvious “layers” of a composition: rhythms (pre-programmed in this case), bass (organ pedals) chords / arrangements (left hand), lead / melodies (right hand)…
Which artists have influenced your adolescence the most?
Without an hesitation, the one who impressed me the most, and in a durable way: David Bowie. “Station To Station” and the “Berliner Trilogy” (low / heroes / lodger) will remain forever etched in my memory.
Of course, many other revelations popped up in this period (especially via radio broadcasts, before starting to buy records): Roxy Music, Velvet Underground, Blondie, Talking Heads, Devo, Klaus Nomi, Kraftwerk, Moroder, The Cure, Siouxsie, PIL, Psychedelic Furs, Nina Hagen, Kate Bush, Shriekback, Simple Minds, Talk Talk, Tom Tom Club, Yello, YMO, and dozens of other…
I quote these rather well known names, who counted a lot for me, because back then, they could be heard on the radio (I do not know if the equivalent would still be possible).
The following of my approach with music(s) will then be based on “research” and exploration of more specific and less disseminated genres(Industrial Music, Italo-Disco, Ebm, New Wave, Cold Wave…)
But indeed, if I had to choose only one, it would probably be Bowie. He represented for me “The Artist” in all its dimensions: musical, visual, conceptual, evolutive…
Later I will be stuck with acts like Cabaret Voltaire, Neon Judgement, Severed Heads, Chris & Cosey, Death In June… to name a few.