Paris Flashback—Frederic Sanchez - record store owner comments on French music - Brief Article - Interview

HE'S GOT A GALLERY A RECORD STORE AND A POINT OF VIEW

DIMITRI EHRLICH: We speak with you regularly about what's going on with European music. Now it feels like a real moment, not so much for French music in general, but for electronica. Why do you suppose that is?

FREDERIC SANCHEZ: I think, traditionally, the music that's been important in France has always been about singing. In the '60s, you had Francoise Hardy and Jacques Dutronc and Serge Gainsbourg--it was very melodic. In England there was pop music, and in France there was what we call variete.

DE: You mean in the tradition of Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour, real old-school song craftsmanship?

FS: Exactly. And then in the '705, Jean Michel Jarre arrived with this album, Oxygene, and he introduced the idea of music that was electronic but also very melodic. And then you had the beginning of techno music with Laurent Gamier in the early '90s. And there was this big club for techno in Paris called Le Boy. So really, there is this continuity of groups doing electronica but in a very melodic way. Groups like Air and Rinocerose, they are really doing something that is like variete--the only difference is that more and more of them, like Daft Punk and Air, are also taking inspiration from everything from German rock to soul music to funk. What is interesting with all these groups is that they have internalized these influences.

DE: Is there anything that's been selling a lot in your record store recently that's surprised you?

FS: Yeah, something we got just last year, a great record from a Viennese artist who mixes singing with electronic music. He's called Patrick Pulsinger, and nobody else is selling this record. I put one piece of his on my new compilation CD [Frederic Sanchez (SaintGeorges/Sony France)].

DE: How would you describe the music scene in Paris overall?

FS: It's very eclectic. What's interesting about Paris and always will be is the mix of cultures.

DE: Paris, of course, has a large North African population. I'm sure racism is a problem, but is world music very separate from the electronic music scene? Is anybody mixing the two?

FS: You know, when you think hip-hop, you think American rap. But there's a very strong rap thing in France and it's been going on for 25 years. People like NTM mix rap and African music. It's very strong. It's very political. Doctor L is more like Serge Gainsbourg doing rap; you know, he plays with words.

DE: It's odd that France has had a tradition of appreciating certain American musicians who have not been as warmly embraced at home, including lots of jazz players and people like Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, all the way up to Jeff Buckley.

FS: Their audience in Paris was really incredible.

DE: It seems like the Parisians appreciate lyricists a lot. Maybe it's because of the Serge Gainsbourg tradition.

FS: Yeah, and I think that all the people you're talking about made music, but they always took lyrics seriously, too. I think French people are very focused on the writing, because it's really [important to] their culture--and there's this tradition of American writers coming to Paris, like William Burroughs and Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway. Also I think these singers you've mentioned were very interested in French music. Like Jeff Buckley--he did this thing with Edith Piaf's songs. So there really is a kind of relationship.

Dimitri Ehrlich is Interview's Music Editor at Large. Illustration: RISKO.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group