Interview: Philippe Cohen Solal of Gotan Project and Mike Lindsay of Tunng
For their 1950’s/1960’s retro inspired album, Outsider, Mike Lindsay of the cool “folktronica” British band Tunng paired up with French producer, Gotan Project co-founder, and fellow composer Philippe Cohen Solal. If you listen to plenty of Lana Del Rey, the lush backing vocals and nostalgia may feel like home in your earbuds. With 2020 being the most awful year possible, start 2021 tuning out everything with a refreshing twist, with the perfect life soundtrack for a best friends’ road trip without a destination.
“I don’t know where it fits into contemporary music but it’s classic, it’s beautiful and it’s experimental.” ”
“I first came across Henry Darger’s work in 2003, and it has stayed with me ever since. I feel I know Darger. So many years I’ve been reading his books and living with his work and words. I feel connected because of the kind of child he was.”
Have you ever tricked your minds into being competitive with other artists to excel at your work? If not, why not?
MIKE:
I mean, of course, although I wouldn’t always recognise it as competition. Sometimes I will go to a show (well when we all could) and I would see a band that just completely blows me away in terms of originality, sonic experimentalism and performance. I know that the next day I will want to be in the studio experimenting with toys and trying to move forward with my own production. We have to be better, and learn more. I still feel like I’m just beginning and some how managed to get away with it for the past 20 years. Lots to learn and lots to create and there will always be someone better. We need those people in our lives. They keep us hungry.
PHILIPPE:
For a long time I forbade myself from creating my own music, because I knew that I could never be Bowie or Prince, my idols. At the time, my shrink confirmed that I would indeed never be Bowie or Prince, but I could be Philippe Cohen Solal. Which is what I’ve been trying to be ever since.
What during the pandemic have you done as a musician with work or recording that you never tried before?
MIKE:
Well, there has been a lot more remote file sharing. I have just produced a record for ‘Low Roar’ where all the piano and vocals were recorded in Sweden where he lives. Then I have been working on all the synths bass and drums and shaping the song at my home studio in Margate UK. He will then re sing and add more harmonies and we’ll discuss whats working or not. The album was creating itself without either of us being in the same room and actually I think it might be the best record we’ve made together. This method was so quick and somehow more organic. Also releasing a record like ‘Outsider’ with Philippe where there will be no live shows, but instead an amazing full album length animation has been made which will be live streamed. That is the show, and because it’s a concept album about Henry Darger, his life and his visual art (which has been animated), it somehow feels more perfect to be making a film rather than a concert. Less ego involved, leaving space for the music, story and art to shine.
PHILIPPE:
Right from the beginning of the French lockdown in March 2020, I understood that there wouldn’t be any concerts for a long time. A very long time. Therefore I completely rethought the way I was going to release my music - and particularly this new album OUTSIDER - I hope that one day we can put on the show that I have in my head, but while we wait, the project will exist differently and this is a challenge which excites me enormously.
It might be great having a signature sound, but musicians can suffer from too much of the same sound. How do you prevent yourself from this trap?
MIKE:
New toys!! A few years ago it was the ‘Oto Biscuit’ which is bit crunching wibble machine. Last year it was the Eventide H949, which according to Toni Visconti in 1977 it “Fucks with the fabric of time and space” This year it’s the Moog Subharmonicon, described as ‘music as living matter’ and the 1980 Otari half inch 8 track, as it’s time I tried moving away from the computer.
PHILIPPE:
My problem is actually the opposite. I admire those who have the same sound all their life, but I am incapable. I am too eager to explore new sounds, styles or influences. While I was doing “tango with electronic beats” with my band Gotan Project, I also did some alternative country and bluegrass with my side project The Moonshine Sessions. My case is therefore hopeless, doctor!
Who are musicians outside of your style you would love to collaborate with?
MIKE:
Tom Ze, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Bill Frisell, Toumani Diabaté, Billie Eilish, Slash.
PHILIPPE:
I dream of collaborating with Frank Ocean, for whom I have boundless admiration. A few years ago, I was writing some film music with my friend Chassol, when his manager called him and told him that Frank Ocean wanted to work with him on his album “Blonde.” I was a little jealous, but above all I was super proud of my mate.
What would be your most honest impression of “selling out” that would cause you to quit the music industry?
MIKE:
Well about 15 years ago Tunng sold a tune for a TV advertisement for a company that seemed very right on. The advert was about sustainability and helping farming in developing countries. We agreed to the Sync but then we found out that the same company was responsible for inventing Napalm! We eventually withdrew our involvement. It felt good to say no but man, we really could have used that cash!! I guess you just have to know your personal boundaries as to who you will let use your music, but its getting harder and harder to survive as a fulltime musician so for me, its ok to ‘sellout’ if it means you can keep creating… but watch out who you sell out too!
PHILIPPE:
Quite frankly, I think that only my health or death would make me quit music. I still have so much desire and so many ideas to accomplish, that I feel that I am in a race against time.
Do you think there is a right age to begin in the music industry? Is there such a thing as too young or too old?
MIKE:
Absolutely no such thing!!! If you’re passionate, do it! People want to hear music from every angle.
PHILIPPE:
Bizarrely, I was very young when I started in the music industry as a radio DJ but I started to produce my own music quite late, as I was already 29 years old. One day Serge Gainsbourg told me that 10 years of work were needed to be successful. That is exactly what happened for me with Gotan Project.
How does music make you a happier, more productive person?
MIKE:
Personally I just love creating something that didn’t exist before. Getting lost for hours in sound and coming up for air with a new tone or tune that was not a part of this world at the beginning of the day. It can be frustrating too, as it doesn’t always come easily. You can’t physically touch music, and, these days, most people don’t own it. It is just vibrations in the air…. As a producer I get infinite amounts of joy creating sounds. As a listener, music is the only art form that you can take in your pocket and it will elevate the mood you’re in or drive your journey, or your cooking or your running or your romance or whatever… You can multi task whilst being immersed in sound…
It definitely drives my happiness and productivity.
PHILIPPE:
This may sound cliché, but for me it’s just a reality. I need music, just like air or water. I can not and do not want to live without music. I now appreciate silence, but it is music that makes me happy and gets me out of bed in the morning. Beyond music, art in general and in this case with OUTSIDER, the american outsider artist Henry Darger was a huge inspiration and changed my creative process in ways that fulfill me.
