Good evening to all.
Hi everybody.
Good evening to all. As you know, the Red Bull Music Academy is taking place in Paris this year,
at la Gaîté lyrique and this kind of explosion of... I'm sorry.
Everything will be all right.
I know. There will be many events that are organised, like this lecture with Marc Cerrone
who is kind of the father of French disco, shall we say. Do you accept this or not?
Why French?
It starts again.
Like I told you: I have never made a record in France. I have always done it in England or in the United States, so I have not really…
I am French by birth, but I’m not really a French musician or French singer. So, without any pretensions, no - I am not a French disco composer.
Did you always think that you were composing music that was more international?
I have never released a record only in France. My records were always released first in the United States, or in England
(but usually in the United States), and then they reached France a few months later.
A rebound.
Just to make everything clear - without any pejorative sense, or whatever.
Can you tell us where you come from, and how you got into music? Into drums? Just to remind people...
This will probably annoy them. It will be long.
No. It's really interesting, actually.
I started playing drums by accident when I was 12-year old.
I discovered that since I was unruly, and not really a good student, I would drum on the table’s non-stop
and get thrown out of class. In the beginning, it was under the furniture, when I had a teacher that I didn’t like.
Otherwise, it would be in the corridors. At one point, I nearly got expelled from school. At the time, my mother told me,
“Listen, what will we do? You will get yourself expelled from school.
If you prove yourself, manage to focus, and play music during the time that you can, at the end of term I will buy you drums.”
What an amusing idea.
I didn't even think of that.
In short, what happened was that she gave me a drum kit and I started to learn how to play the instrument.
I found a friend who was the most loyal to me, whom I spent most of my time with: the fusion was apparent
and so I started (after a year and a half, or two years) to work in groups more often.
At the age of 16, my father wanted me to continue my studies. It was absolutely impossible, and so
I ran away from home and continued playing music while they were still looking for me, for a year-and-a-half or two years.
Whenever I heard the police in the streets, I wondered if they were looking for me.
I would talk to my mother so that she knew that I wasn’t doing anything stupid, but it was music...
And where you living at the time?
Excuse me?
So where were you living at that time?
I was living...
I made sure to find girlfriends that had a studio, who were students, so that I could crash there.
I would take gigs on Saturdays and Sundays – balls, which I enjoyed the most - to be able to eat.
And then, in the summer of ’72 - this goes way back, during the summer of ’72 - I had decided with a friend to go and panhandle
on the port of St Tropez.
I made a board with wheels with the drums on it, and I would play the drums solo
from 7pm to 9pm: when the people would have their aperitif (even today, there are people who do that).
Then I would take my bowler hat off and pass it to the people on the terrace.
Eddie Barclay (who was a famous man at the time, who invented the long-player
single that know today) had put a paper in the hat.
I saw that he had been there many times so I went to meet him after I was done.
I was quite moved, and didn’t say much, and then he invited me to lunch the next day.
I went to his villa, with a lot of stars as guests.
I was already wondering, “What will happen?”
I did not think that what would happen after that would be the drums. I thought that by 20 or 21-years old I would stop playing them.
In the end, we signed my first contract really, really fast. He told me that I could not just play drums for a record -
you need a group of musicians - and I told him that I had some friends with whom I had made a band. It was called Kongas
(which was quite popular until ’75)
And he asked me if I could get the group from Paris to St Tropez - which I did.
We played at a disco called Le Papagayo, which was a well-known disco at the time.
We had a trial, then the trial turned into playing there for the whole month and we signed a contract.
At the end of August, we started working in studios.
In November, we released our first single and I have never stopped since then.
There. I have told you everything. I can say “Goodnight.”
And then what happened?
Oh, with ice, it would have been nicer but... We are at the Eiffel Tower, it will be difficult
So the Kongas, it's still ....
And then I learned stagecraft with Kongas. I had learnt to place myself, to have a style of my own. Kongas was an Afro-rock group.
How many people were in Kongas?
There were six of us. There were two percussionists, drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, singer - we were seven.
I formed this group, which was quite fantastic. We had signed ....
We were the first group to sign a contract with an American record label called Buddha Records.
This is when I got excited about going international because we had gone on tour in the United States,
we had gone to Japan, and I have learned stagecraft with this group.
Alright. You have learned everything, the production...
No. The production came at end of the 70s.
I have lived my life a bit by accident, but positive accidents. When life gave me obstacles, in the end,
I have found that these obstacles are steps that allow me to climb higher.
In ’75 - because I am telling you about my life - I had a girlfriend and she got pregnant and so evidently her dad told me, “You will marry her.”
And I told myself, “If I keep the kid, I will have to stop playing music. I have to be serious. I have to take responsibility.”
I had a son (who will be 40 years this year) and before I left the group I said, “I will make an album.
It will be the conclusion of everything that I have learned,” and that's when I produced “Love in C Minor.”
I had gone to England because I was a fan of a studio called Trident, where Elton John and Genesis recorded.
I succeeded in hiring an engineer for a few weeks – and everything that I needed - and I produced “Love in C Minor.”
I had of course kept the two percussionists from the Kongas, so to support them I used this beat all the time -
this rhythm which became disco.
I saw that this worked very well because when we stopped performing solo, and when we did pop or rock songs, it was all right,
but the reception of the crowd was less immediate.
And when I did “Love in C Minor” I told myself that on top of being a drummer, I had to be a leader. I had to find a signature somewhere,
so I used this rhythm all the time with a bassline to follow.
I recorded a song that was 16 minutes and 30 seconds long
and I didn’t think that I would keep at 16 minutes and 30 seconds. When we were in the studio we were all playing live. I told them that I’d record for as long as possible,
and then I will choose the best parts and cut them up later.
But when I listened to it, I told myself that I would keep them all - because I thought, really, that I would sell a dozen copies.
When you produce a record with drums in the foreground that’s 16 minutes long,
it's true that it won’t be on the radio. At one point, at the end of the album, I became a megalomaniac.
Instead of listening to all of the record labels that thought that it was not releasable, and that it made no sense,
it's really because it made no sense that I thought that it had something.
What I talked about earlier, in relation to obstacles which turned into steps that allowed me to climb higher: I had the courage to go to London
to a record label called Island. I had 5,000 records that I had made and wanted to sell myself.
A month-and-a-half later the records arrived in Paris, and with a few friends we tried placing five records here, 20 records there,
and gradually, by playing them in clubs and offering them to discos, the buzz started to spread after a few weeks.
At the time, there was a record shop that you would have recognised called ChampDisque. Gary Deschamps was the DJ in there.
This is where we went to search for American records that would have been released in France nine months later:
what we would have called an “import.”
I had given [Gary] 10 records, then 20, then 50, and he told me, “Your thing is really enjoyable.”
And as the guy was talking to me like I am talking to you, I had my picture on the record cover.
He never connected the dots.
Then one day, he told me, “Listen, give me 300 and we will do the accounting at the end of the month.”
Me, I was really happy. I had just one condition. I told him, “Put them all in the display window.”
He puts them in all in the display window and after 48 hours, he calls me.
I thought that he had sold them all. He said, “No, no, no, I have a stupid intern” -
it's not an intern, it's a sales boy – “who instead of sending back 300 defective or unsold Barry White records to a New Yorker wholesaler, he has sent yours.
By the time it reaches here, deliver me 50 more.”
We delivered the 50, but the 300 never came back.
When he opened the box, the American wholesaler saw the record cover and was shocked.
I reiterate: we are in ’76, so he wants to listen to it. He listens to it and then he says, “Wow, I want to play this in a disco.”
The guy who opened the box was a DJ during weekends in the euro clubs in New York, and when he played them the public went up to the booth and said,
“What is this? What is this?" So he sold those 300 records straight from the booth.
This made quite an impact in New York.
Some friends came to see me and told me, “Your record is working quite well in the USA.”
I thought that it was a joke. I lost 2 months because of that, and then it was time for the MIDEM which was in December.
It's the records fair in Cannes and I was telling myself, “Maybe, if there's work, I will try and go to MIDEM,”
all the while thinking, “I will have a kid.” I couldn’t let go. So I went to MIDEM and I saw a magazine called Billboard,
which is a bit like the Bible of music for the whole world, and I saw that my song was listed.
To cut a long story short: I went to New York with a friend and rang the doorbell of the first record label I went to (the biggest, Atlantic Records),
and they welcome me. I signed the contract with Atlantic. The result: a number 1 record, 3 million albums sold. There.
There is also a story that you had told me long ago. There was cover of “Love in C Minor,” because they didn’t know who the original was by…
Ah, you know that story. This will probably be a bit long. Of course, when we had buzz in New York, the record labels
checked the album cover and found “Printed in England” on it. They looked for my name in England, but nobody knew me.
There was another label called Casablanca, where Donna Summers and Giorgio Moroder were, and they made a cover of it.
What's a cover? It's an identical copy. 
They had “The Art of the [Sous l'Orchestra] Love in C Minor, Cerrone,” and that became a Top 10 record.
When I went to see Atlantic, I told them, “Wait - this is a cover. The original is mine.” I had to prove myself (that was quite easy to do)
and of course, we signed immediately. Three months later they launched my original, which killed the cover and was an enormous success.
What was it like in the 70s for a young musician whose interested in discos, and that clubbing spirit that gave birth to the DJ?
There was nothing. It was instinctive.
At the time, discos were starting to emerge. What was the difference between the discos, and those before them?
Before, they were called nightclubs. The nightclubs would play about half an hour of music for dancing, and then half an hour of slow music.
But there was a new trend called discos. From the age of 20, I went to discos - not nightclubs. It was all a coincidence…
What were they playing in the discos?
Like we say: you need to have a minimum of talent to do this job, but you especially need to be at the right place at the right time, and to feel in it your gut. You also need to
know how to surround yourself with talent. I believe that you need to be around talented people, because you can't make a record by yourself. You don’t start a career by yourself.
There are plenty of people that are around, and you need to choose carefully: these people can also change your style and confuse you, but others, on the other hand…
When you are young you have a tendency to believe the people who are in the job, so you have to be very, very careful.
When people ask me what they need to do to be successful, well: you need to have a minimum amount of talent, especially the talent
of knowing how to make it known,
which I am explaining to you.
You have a strong personality: you slammed the door on Barclay because they want to make Kongas a pop group…
It's always a principle. When you have the opportunity to be seen and to be interested in people who are more talented than you, you shouldn't let it go.
You have to be up to the challenge. You have to be assertive. You have to fight, to be up to the challenge - and then afterwards, grow.
But it’s not because someone big, important and talented is interested in you that you say, “This is it, I have reached my goal.”
In this job, especially today, there are many people who think that they have succeeded because they have signed a record deal
or they have a promising success, and that is it. They have succeeded.
On the contrary - it is like surfing. This is how it works. I always try to live up to expectations of the doors that open.
After “Love in C Minor,” was there a pressure weighing down on you, or…?
There is also sadness because the TV channels in France, which I told you about in the beginning… it was not released in France.
It was released in the US. It was only when it was a success there that it came back to France.
Like we say: nobody is a prophet in his own land. This embarrassed me. I had my family and friends in France and I was telling myself that it was a lucky strike,
and that it would not go on. I was taking advantage of everything that was coming to me and opening to me - tours, television, money, glory -
because from the moment I produced by myself, I didn’t sign an artist contract. I signed a label contract. They are not the same thing.
I was taking advantage of it all because I thought that it would all stop in a few months time. Never would I have thought then that I would make a second album called “Paradise,”
which was quite as successful, and after that a third album which came out 2 years later, “Supernature.”
This is where everything started.
This is really where - between Grammy Awards, between 8 million albums - the change started.
I began to think that maybe a career was starting for me, so I had to pull my weight I had to surround myself with the right people, and work harder.
In any way, I had to be up to the challenge and to whatever was happening to me.
There was something quite modern about this period: you create a sort of global package with your record.
There is an image, a lifestyle, with your album covers…
With “Love in C Minor,” everything I have done… Like I explained, my path in life, between the Kongas, is about this excitement and discovery.
The album cover, for instance, which was supposed to be a concept that guided the musical direction.
After you have a concept that works - which pleases you, because this is what you wanted - you carry on.
By the third album, the principal title was supposed to be the first single, “Give Me Love.” During the sessions, I had always stayed at Trident
because Trident had opened doors for me. It was my studio during the year.
They sent me a synthesizer called Odyssey.
I did not even know how to switch it on. It was one of the first synthesizers.
The first thing that I had played was a note – “ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta” - which was the birth of the sequencer, in fact.
“Supernature” happened while I was playing it and enjoying myself one afternoon. The concept was done. After that,
We produced “Supernature” and evidently, when it was completed
(it was also nearly 20 minutes long), with the concept in three phases, I came to Atlantic with “Supernature.” Since my record label was American,
not French, they said, “No. We have worked for two years to build your orchestration - your musical style -
between ‘Love In C Minor’ and ‘Paradise’ – and you’re coming to us with…
what is a synthesizer?” We were at the end of ’77 - beginning of ’78. I fought quite hard and I managed to persuade them. Because I did not have an artist contract
(it was a label contract), I told them that if you do not want to release “Supernature” then you don't have a third album - or you don't have an artist.
“How come we don't have an artist? We signed with you for 5 years.”
“No, you signed with a label. The label has only signed with Cerrone for two albums.”
So, how did I do? I end up blackmailing them a bit, and they accepted. It was not business. I did not prepare any of that.
It was spontaneous: like a kid defending himself, like when I first ran away from home because I really wanted to go to the end.
In short, “Supernature” was a colossal success.
Then I met a writer called Lene Lovitch, who was part of the original punk movement and a 180 degree turn from the “Love me,” sexy stuff:
very playful and festive. “Supernature” was rather cold compared to what I had done before.
With her an environmentalist writing, few people cared about it at the time. They told me,
“You are doing this on purpose. You want to commit suicide. You are on the branch that will kill yourself.”
I said, “No, I am making the tree bigger. Have faith in me.” Well, it was done. “Supernature” was very, very important.
And how did you have so much confidence in yourself, when you said that?
Megalomania, I think. Not to confuse megalomania and mythomania, though.
They are very close, but they are not the same thing. A megalomaniac delivers, and a mythomaniac dreams. When the passion is serious...
You don’t believe that it will last, so you don't have anything to lose. You do not plan for a future in the spotlight. I have never liked having the spotlight on me.
My delight was the stage. I learned stagecraft with Kongas, and then it was to spend time onstage on my own.
I tried to go as far as possible so that I could emerge in 3 or 4 years time to play live, and I couldn’t really believe it.
From the moment you discovered the harp - which is a synthesizer that would shake things up quite a lot - we did not really know what you worked with.
You didn’t really talk about your equipment: your synthesizers, your favourite objects. How do you produce a Cerrone track? Are there other musicians, or are you on your own?
During the time of “Supernature,” I found a guy who knew how to use synthesiser. There was IBM at the time for accounting - that’s what IT was for.
It was this guy called Jonathan Jeczalik, who had created the group Art of Noise.
He was so talented. I had written the main tune - the construction, the sound direction - but at the end, the people that you have around you
bring their own talents to the track. Moreover, since I have group training, I still do a lot of stage performances.
I do not have an artist’s mind - like a singer, with all these musicians who are jumping on a bandwagon.
If there is a team spirit then everybody will participate. I need others. It’s really important to me. It's reassuring to me.
It’s also quite encouraging to go find a girl like Lene Lovitch who we do not really see very often. She played a role - very gothic and punk.
She was insane. She was like Harykrishna. She was roaming the streets barefoot. We were at Piccadilly Circus with a friend called Alain Visniac,
who I worked with on “Supernature,” and we see this chick with a stuffed pink bird on her head. She was a redhead, and she was wearing a green dress,
and we were nearly laughing. “What was this?” When we were laughing, she started playing the tambourine.
She comes to us and says, “Why are you laughing?” We were teasing her a little bit, “What are you doing here? You are dressed like a Christmas tree.”
“And you? What do you do?” “We are musicians.” “Oh yes?” And suddenly, I am inviting her to come join us at night at the studio.
She accepts. She shows up and we spend some time together, this and that… “Supernature” has a number of rhyming couplets, and since my label is called Malligator,
I told her that I wanted the title to sound like “Mal-ali-ga-tor.” It couldn’t be “Mal-ali-ga-tor” of course, but it had to fit with the number of couplets.
So we needed a background. I had given her a copy of “The Island of Dr Moreau” and at that time… well, it was the first wake-up call for the global community.
“We’re fucking up globally. We’re going to destroy everything. We’re fucking it all up.”
This was the time of the first oil crisis. We started to realise where oil came from, why we were all driving cars, that it was being pumped…it all came from this era.
And that very night, she came up with the title, “Supernature.” I found it really amazing.
We spent days and weeks learning the lyrics, and the lyrics are trendier today than at the time that they were written. She also got a Grammy Award for her lyrics.
I also need to say this: at the time of “Love in C Minor,” I had the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time.
It’s the heavens that give you this chance. To make a career, you also need to have a measure of good fortune -
more than the rest - and this is either given or not. Me, I had this opportunity because, at the birth of Studio 54,
I had the chance to be out drinking with friends at night. When I was in a gang, there was Warhol, Gaultier, Goude:
all these guys who were total agitators in their fields. Great talents. Gautier was showing off his pointy bras, Goude was cutting his bird,
Grace Jones, into lots of little pieces, and Warhol – well, that goes without saying. When I was surrounded by people like them, I had the good chance of being the youngest to participate.
I think Gaultier was the same age as me. We were freaks, provocative freaks, but we had success.
We were all excited. When I was telling you earlier about megalomania: it's also about your environment.
You see what I mean? When you see Gaultier making his pointed brassieres, it pushes you and you started talking.
The next day, when you are in the studio, you are not humble. You are driven. You are motivated.
Either way, it was an extremely creative period that created the legacy that we see today:
in whatever style, in the colours, in the textures; this period had been extremely rich, creatively.
I had the good luck to be at the right place at the right time, which means that I had the chance to have a long career.
With the success of “Supernature” and all of that, I can imagine that you’re quite wealthy.
That was not really the motivation for me.
Okay. But what was the life of Cerrone like at the time? Were you in discos every night? You were between Warhol and Studio 54, and it was about the parties?
There were hundreds of concerts and TV appearances. I was never at home. I was constantly on the road. I was taking advantage of that in a greedy kind of way,
because I was sure that it would not last, and then after that… things happen when you have success and you attract media attention. Luck strikes,
which happens today [as well]. Today it's a lot clearer, because people communicate and aren’t afraid to speak out. In my time, it was the birth of that.
You have the best stuff and people propose lots of stuff to you, so we they asked me, in France, since we’d discovered that the French came last…but I was French…
so we were asked to do this concert, in the equivalent of Bercy [arena] today, it was in Pantin,
I said yes but I had conditions because my heart wasn’t in it. I said that I will have a concert and
I will have a pyramid made of Plexiglas. It was 16 metres tall and wide, could open
open and turn around, and it became the interface for stage lighting.
In our world we had nothing to lose – you become really provocative - so I said that we would blow smoke out of it when it opens,
and have 5 naked girls and guys. Evidently, the French media said, “How dare he?”
In the beginning of the show the women were the first to stand up, and the guys were staring like that
(and I repeat: you have to remember the era), and the ladies were saying, “He is exaggerating” - and then we see the guys, who were also naked.
Naked. Then it was the guys turn to be embarrassed, as I had picked the right guys. It was provocative.
And then the guys were embarrassed because their wives were happy to see a magnificent creature getting naked.
If you did that today, it wouldn’t mean anything. I repeat: it's really important to keep the era in mind.
And all of a sudden, the guy was embarrassed. It was a total provocation: knowing that this would attract the media's attention.
I stayed in Paris for three days before going back to the United States, because I had started living in the United States. I have lived there for 22 years.
Would these protests probably not happen today? The woman on the fridge, with a yoghurt stain: can we interpret that as...?
Today, when you see that…
You don't think that you would have the feminists on your back?
Today, when you see the video clips of American singers, I think we have reached a peak.
Yes, but you are a man.
I think that we are more acceptable of profanity today. It passes close to vulgarity. People have always complained that I am provocative, but it was that era.
There were other French guys who were provocative – like Gainsbourg. You have to say that it was
also in an era that was very provocative.
Gaultier and Goude: these guys, they are agitators. I wasn’t the only one to provoke. I was motivated to be provocative through music
and since I was the only one to do it on a musical level, that’s why it has lasted. I wasn’t the only one, though.
We were pat of this movement. Today, everyone goes on about pushing the limits, but if a singer, French or American,
goes on stage wearing a thong, we just say “Yeah - seen it all before.” There. It’s really important to put things in context.
And does it correspond to the life at that era – a life of debauchery? - Now you are going into my private life.
Alright. From “Supernature,” there is something different happening in the sound that
we we would call “euro disco,” where Europe claims disco as its own – was that an opportunity for you?
There is nothing rude about not wanting to be classed as a French musician.
I have never been categorised as “euro-disco.” My records were in the American charts.
They were not “euro disco.” Why do you want to label me as a French?
Because you invented a sound. And when you think of “Supernature,” which was released before “I Feel Love”…
This sound was not invented in France. The only thing that tethers me to France… Atlantic Records always told me,
“Don't say that you are French in your interviews. This will discredit you.”
Since I am Cerrone (it’s Italian: my family is Italian and we feel Italian) they were telling me, “Say that you are Italian.”
But I was still born in France. I was never given American nationality, even though I have been asked to do it, all these years, I was even happy.
I find that France is still very intellectual and quite sophisticated. I always wanted to stay French.
In short, when they told me in interviews where I managed to show a French part, I am asked, “What is the French side of you that remains?
Your musicians are English or American, the singers are American, and you do everything in English.
Your lyrics are in English. There is nothing left.” And I would say, “Yes, there is a French touch...”
And that’s when the word got out. What is a “French Touch”? It’s precisely that I did not go to America to try to teach you how to do it.
I only copy you, but with a little French gimmick. Because it is true: I have spent my life trying to copy the Americans.
I love the English, I loved the Americans, and I only copy them.
Daft Punk, in ‘95, when that happened, either they or the was the media rekindled this French touch.
Then David Guetta picked up on it again. Today, French Touch really says something. The French credibility really says something.
But it’s the only thing that links me to French. Euro-dance, euro-disco, French disco…
“Euro-dance” is not the same thing as “euro-disco.”
Yes. I am trying to say that this doesn’t concern me.
You don’t have the impression that there is a “Cerrone touch,” then?
It’s true. I was living in the United States. I want to tell you. I have never recorded in France. I only worked with American musicians. What is left?
There is only me left who is French. The mind. When you work with people with talents - session musicians
who record twelve hours per day… Often when I say “people with talents,” I mean people who do not just hold meetings.
I am talking about people from the group. Like I told you: I worked with Santana’s band
Jim Page from Deep Purpl to make my and 
Jimmy Page from Deep Purple to make my guitar sounds. I am not talking about people from the studio who play with Enrico Maccias (the poor thing,
I like him a lot), or others. This is not how I worked.
I would try to take advantage of what happened to me to go and look for guys at the top of their game. Since my style was quite new and young,
this got them excited. It drove them to work with me. I made my fifth album with Toto. Toto were quite huge at the time.
This made them laugh, but… the whole of my fifth album was made with all of the members of Toto, except the drummer.
They did not come to play French disco. They came to play with Cerrone. It’s not disco. It's just a good sound.
Then disco came and all the record labels saw this phenomenon: with Giorgio Moroder, Chic, and myself.
There were maybe four or five names that were huge hits and selling a lot of records. What did the major companies do?
They took their local [pop] artists, that would be people like Sheila in France, and they got…
I don't know. I wasn’t around, but I heard about it. Nile Rogers, who had made a record for her. He was the one who told me about it.
They signed the most important local artists who made disco, but this was not disco. Disco is an atmosphere.
It’s thanks to the generations that followed - and are still here today, after 40 years - that I’ve been remixed and sampled
and all of that. What did the whole world sample? They took the basic groove. The bass and drums.
They didn’t sample the more obvious disco stuff, the violins… And I have lasted thanks to this, you see.
I have nothing, as you said, to do with French disco. I am telling you again, I have no concerns with that. But there, you…
At the time, a French disco scene was emerging with people like Space, Voyage, Martin Circus, all that…
I was not in France. I didn't know them.
You do not want…
No. I will not lie to please you.
Alright. What is also interesting about that time is that you were very prolific.
You were producing nearly one album per year, and you had lots of projects.
We have nearly finished a new album. We are in the mixing process right now.
When you say that I release one album per year: that means that in 40 years means I have produced 40 albums.
When they release the next one, next spring, it will be the 18th album.
I mean in the 70s and 80s. In 1980, with the Brigade Mondaine project, everything that you did on Malligator,
when you produced for Don Ray and many Cerrone releases after that.
In the first 7 years, I produced many records. You have certain periods that are more creative than others.
You have certain periods where stuff is happening just like that.
At one point, when I left Kongas and the group disbanded, I was a bit embarrassed.
The two percussionists had come to play with me (they are still with me, it’s been more than 40 years
two generations),
I was a bit embarrassed that I had broken up the group, so I wanted to help them. I met a fantastic guy back in the day.
I was a fan of him. He was called Steve Winwood: from the Spencer Davis Group, he made “Give Me Some Loving.”
One night, as we were drinking, I told him, “Are you okay with that?” It was the birth of mash-up. We were mixing up two titles.
“I would really like to mix up some afro thing with whatever I did with Kongas and ‘Give Me Some Loving.’ Would you be okay with that?”
And he told me, “Okay, go on. Do it and then send it to me.” I did it and he said, “I love it. How do we do it?” And I said,
And I said, “We’ll make it 50/50. I don't care. We will sell a dozen.” And this was a huge hit. It was Africanism.
Can you talk about Brigade Mondaine, which was a separate project discovered by… I am sorry but it's a bit…?
He really wants to tie me to France, right?
No, no. This is a project...
Brigade Mondaine...
It was re-released last year, and it hadn’t been available for a long time. Are you aware of the modernity of this record today? And that…
I have been told that that record is my house record.
A guy like James Murphy from DFA would like this kind of disco…
I will tell you how this happened.
I was on a promotional tour in France, I I was on a promotional tour in France. I was staying for 8 days.  I was spending an evening at Palace and I met a guy called Gerard de Villiers,
and he talked to me about S.A.S. I did not know what that was.
He was telling me that he wanted to become a film producer and that he was will launch a new serial called Brigade Mondaine.
We had like three, four, five or seven glasses of Scotch - cheers to you - and I said, “Yes, so?” He asks me, “Would you agree for me to have ‘Give Me Love’?
I think it suits the film’s music quite well,” and I tell him, “Yeah, go on.” The next day, I don't even remember it.
And then after that, I received a telex - we didn’t even have fax machines yet at this point – and the guy tells me,
“I’m serious. I really will take ‘Give Me Love’ for Brigade Mondaine.”
“Well…” “Go on.” “Okay.” One thing led to another and he asked me to do the music for the film. I didn't really have the time, but I did it in 48 hours.
At night, I had this screen, we had these big tapes.
I’d watch it, and I was just having a laugh. I did it just like that, by accident.
And today, when Because [record label] tells me, “It's been years, and there are still fans of Brigade Mondaine…”
I had made another one, since the first one was a hit, and the film soundtrack was a gold record,
we made a second one. And then I made a third one.
And then, after that, you stopped?
And then, after that, I stopped. We stopped then. The other one - Gerard de Villiers - he made four.
The fourth one was less lucky. It was a flop.
But I wasn’t part of that one - just the first three. When Because told me, “We are reissuing them,” I was like, “You are crazy.”
They were never released in the United States. I had asked them to not release it in the United States because I thought that it was not… they were demos.
I was playing around. So today, when I am told what I am told, I feel flattered but I don't want to dwell on it.
It’s like Malligator. There are many records released on Malligator which are hard to find now.
But why is it called Malligator? People have often asked me that. Kongas, it’s what? It's African.
So what did I do? So I took an African logo, crocodile, and Love in C Minor was released, the first vinyl of Love in C Minor is Alligator with the same logo.
This logo anyway, was the Kongas’ logo. Since it was me who brought it, so I kept it. The “Love in C Minor” album was a hit,
and evidently there was a label - a small jazz label - that attacks me saying that we were here before you, we were called Alligator.
I went to see a lawyer, what do I do? He asked me, “What is your name?” I told him, “Marc.” He told me, “We will call it Malligator.”
Ah, this sounded all right. Thank god my name is not Robert, it would have been called Ralligator. [Laughs]. There you are.
Will everything that was on Malligator one day get out?
Because is trying to do that in France, and Warner, for the rest of the world…
everything is getting re-released. Yes.
Alright.
It's a gift. But even though I take much pleasure in telling you about “Supernature,” “Love in C Minor,” that Brigade Mondaine... I did it like that.
You do not have to... you're wrong.
It was released and then the critics were rather nice, but well...
There is something very particular with you: you play disco on the stage when it's really music for a disco, on vinyl.
Is it hard to adapt live? We have the impression that it's really…
I do not play disco on stages. I play my music on the stage. All the people who see me on stage,
they’ll tell you that it’s not really disco. It’s more funk.
The musicians are more funk than disco. I insist on that because I know that in France, disco has a connotation
without any pejorative meaning, really. Disco in France is considered like Born to Be Alive, or Sheila.
This has changed since then, right?
Give me some names. Go on, I am the one asking the questions now. What is French disco?
Well, you. [Laughs]. Groups like Space, people like Bernard Fevre... there is something. I am not saying that, but I think…
But I am talking about today.
Today, the disco has a more pejorative meaning than what it had…
When I hear people like Justice, Daft Punk, Breakbot, they are not disco.
It’s Breakbot, it’s Justice, it’s Daft Punk – it’s their music. They are influenced by American disco but not by Born to Be Alive or Patrick Juvet, I mean.
I am telling you - I don’t really have any animosity against all these artists who have their own talents,
but you are talking to me as if you can go to butcher and buy shoes.
You see what I mean? It’s not the same thing.
Excuse me. He is insisting. I am not listing them according to their values, but we cannot mix the red and the blue. They are different.
And when people like Lindstrøm...
I will explain to you. Disco, it’s not a song. It’s a musical atmosphere. It means that there is an ambience. We don’t care about the length.
Besides, in disco, there are no three minute long songs.
You have to take your time. It’s like seduction: you do not seduce in three minutes. You need some time.
Disco is an atmosphere of seduction, which puts you in a feel-good, festive atmosphere. It’s not a song.
It’s an introduction. You have a verse, a chorus, a bridge, and you finish with a verse.
The artistic and musical construction - the DJs did not miss the point, they really understood.
All of the hits today, whether it’s Guetta or others, who are really considered as among the great ones today
who are French, we won’t say that they are playing disco, yet they are playing dance music.
But when you see the artistic and musical conception, I am forced to fold on my new album.
They have a construction which is not like that of a song, like French disco.
They are creating an atmosphere. Why is that? They are performing. They are playing in front of a public
and at a certain moment, they raise it. It’s directing a musical show,
and this is genius when it’s done with talent. It’s not a song under the pretext that there is brass and that there is a foot all the time,
with violins and disco. No, it’s not the same thing. It’s as if you are talking about high-end fashion
show with a fashion show. You see – it’s not the same thing. I am not saying that disco is a high-end fashion show,
but compared to DJs and compared to the professional world, it’s different.
It’s the atmosphere. It’s not the song (even though you need tunes),
and the DJs have really, really understood that. What did the DJs sample?
From Nile Rogers, Chic or myself - even though we are the two who have been the most sampled -
they just sample loops. They cannot translate.
And believe me, they try to translate - because when they sample, this costs them 50% of their right. For me, they try.
If they agree to lose 50% of their rights, it’s because it’s this ambiance (which I’ve tried to define for you).
The difference between French disco, especially, because if there is a disco which I don’t want to be tied to
it’s French disco, because it’s songs turned into disco. True disco - pure disco - there have not been many artists.
I repeat: there were Moroder, Donna Summer, there was Chic, Cool and the Gang, Earth, Wind and Fire, a little bit me – there are not 50,000 of us.
At one point in the 90s, you started producing huge shows which were quite fantastic.
It's by accident. Like I told you: the Pyramid in France, which was a huge hit at end of the day. I spent two days there
and I remember quite well, because it was the birth of my second son in France (but who lives
in the United States). It was the 2nd and 3rd of December ‘79. It was for the release
of my fourth album “Je Suis Music” - that was a really huge hit. Evidently, the Americans asked me -
the English asked me, they asked me everywhere - it started from there. And then I set the standards higher and higher
and had the opportunity to be part of that great event which happened in Japan, for the launch of satellite HD.
I helped to create a big event for peace or the arrival of the Millennium at Los Angeles with the Dalai Lama,
and the bicentenary, which Jacques Lang asked me to come back to France for.
Jean Paul Goude did the day show, and I did the evening show.
There was a combination of circumstances.
This corresponds to a period when your music was less trendy?
This corresponds to a period where the music I make is nearly outdated.
I got out because I was performing a lot, but we were nearly in a period when we are old fashioned.
 
And how do you live this?
I don't care. I was doing the big events performing for 800,000 people in Tokyo - with colossal budgets, for the launching of first satellite HD,
and you are asked to produce the first hour of the programme - what do you have to lose in not knowing where the disco is?
At that time, you say that you didn’t want to keep playing music?
But no.
What brought you back into the foreground?
I had produced a comedy for Broadway that was played for 10 months. It was a sell out, a huge hit – you are far from all this.
You were writing books?
I was writing booklets for fun because a guy who I had performed in Airport and done the film music with me, Alain Delon,
had met up there. He came to eat at my place and we got on well with each other.
He was in love with Mireille Darc, who was adorable, and we started to get on.
My shows and my albums are quite conceptual. One day, I was reading my sheets - they are called sheets,
they were about 15-20 pages – and I thought, “Are you sure?” The fact that he told me that
“You have to push,” I told him, “I will try to live up to your expectations.” This is yet another accident. 15 days later,
I finished a project called “Dancing Machine,” which was a film with Delon and Patrick Dupont that was released in ’89.
I got them to read it in ’87. They told me, “Wow, see - I told you to push on,” but I did in in 7-8 years.
That was not wasted time. He asked me, “Do you want to do the film or will I do it?”
And I told him, “Are you allowing me to say whether I am okay with directing the film?”
Because at the time, he was still a huge star. He said, “Yes, I am going to see a friend called Pierre Lescure,”
who was the President of Canal Plus. Between ’77 and ’80, Pierre Lescure would write to me.
He was working with Europe 1. He was a journalist and writing a biography. This helped him to connect with people.
So I went to see Pierre Lescure at Canal when he was a big boss. I was passing through Paris
and
I got him to read it. I told him that Delon has agreed to be part of it and that I would really like to have Patrick Dupont
part of it, too. He’s the star of the Parisian opera today, and the President of L'Opera de Paris. He said, "Wow.
You are preparing a lot of stuff. If you can confirm that the others will be involved, I will work with you on the production.”
That was done.
I went to see TF1 and in 4 months, we set everything up. The film was released and it was not a bad success.
Many producers and screenwriters sent me their scripts after that,
but I am not a cinema producer. I did one, period. I only make music that I enjoy and I only have one goal -
to remain in it as long as possible. It's not the money or the spotlights that interest me. It's living what I'm living today
with a well-hidden private life (to put things in perspective,
because the job can be quite overwhelming). I try to put things in perspective.
You didn’t really write for other people, aside from La Toya…
La Toya Jackson, yes, it was…
How was it?
I knew a producer back in the day called Jacky Lombard.
I had met Michael Jackson on a few TV shows and at the Grammy Awards, and she called me and asked me,
“Would you like to produce for Michael Jackson’s little sister, who’ll be the first of the group to go solo?”
I said, “Yes, of course.” She asked me, “How will you do that?” I said, “Bring her to me,”
and she brought her to me a few hours later. I was living in Los Angeles and she brought Michael's mother and La Toya to my house.
It was as if she was Michael's little doppelganger bird. We listened to some music and we spent hours and hours together.
Her mother spent some time with my wife.
La Toya and I spent about 5 or 6 hours together in the studio, I gave her some tapes of that time,
and she got Michael to listen to them. I met Michael three days later in his studio
and he asked me, “Where will you do that?” I said, “There are so many studios in LA -
we will find something.” Then he said, “Well, why don't you do it at my place?” He was producing “Bad”
at the time. I listened to the first take of it. I did it at his place and that's how the story goes.
Can we say that your return to the stage came from Bob Sinclair when this started with…
No. He ties me to France, again.
There's a problem here.
 
No, no, I don't have a problem but I am trying to set the record straight.
The moment where we released “Cerrone by Bob Sinclar” - you know what is “Cerrone by Bob Sinclar” is?
It was him who came to see me in ‘98 and asked for a sample to do “I Feel For You.” Here, too, we did it 50/50.
For “I Feel For You,” the musical basis was “Look For Love,” one of the tracks on album four.
He added a tune to it. I told him, "You really want to sample my 70s sound. Meet me in LA.
You can do that with my studio with my backup singers, my voice arrangers.”
He was quite happy, and that’s what he did. He came to LA, had my backup singers
and had my sound. He released “I Feel For You” and it was a hit. One night, at The Bain Douche, in 2000, I meet a guy called Pascal Negre,
the President of Universal. He tells me, “You know, we have to release a masterpiece,” and I tell him,
“It’s not a masterpiece, but I am producing the arrival of the millennium in Los Angeles. It’s in Hollywood, with a budget.
It’s huge events and I love doing that.”
I'm a little seasoned at it. I had done quite a lot and they were successful.
Why do I care about releasing a masterpiece? I did not even know where dance music was at the time.
It was the arrival of the DJs.
I told him, “Listen - if I find a concept one day, I will give you a call.” We were having lunch with Bob Sinclar
and I asked him, “What do you think about doing a DJ set?” I’ll give you all of my masters. You do not do any remixes.
You only use originals. Don’t add another note, mix them on your computer and send them back to me.”
He said, “I would love to do that,” and I said, “All right - try it and if you manage to do it,
it will be called ‘Cerrone by Bob Sinclar’,” and he was like, “Wow, great. I am excited.”
He sends them back to me a month later and it sounded all right. I send them on to Pascal Negre,
he makes it a hit, but there is no single.
So what I did was re-produce “Give Me Love” in LA with new voices and a new tune.
The single became a success and the album becomes a huge hit. Period. It's a DJ set - it's not a remix.
Can you imagine the importance that it had for me at the time? Who was trying to produce a huge thing?
This made no sense. So, evidently, coming to France does not make me unhappy. America was changing.
There was 9/11, the coming of Bush - the American mentality was not fine.
France asked me to return, so I was happy to come and spend more time here.
My wife and I got an apartment, and then I was asked to do something at The Olympia.
I said, “Yes,” but I had a concept. I wanted to play from midnight until 6AM and transform the Olympia into a disco.
They told me, “You’re crazy.” We will take out all the seats and turn it into a disco:
have DJs play before and after I play live, in the style of Studio 54 or Le Palace from the time.
We did one and it was a hit, so we did another one a year later. I went to the US and
they told me to do something huge in France. And I say that I would really like…
I remember seeing, at the end of the 80s, Pink Floyd perform at Versailles. I said that I would really to do it at Versailles,
but then I say to myself, “They will never allow me to have drummers in front of the Palace of Versailles.
You have 800 cars, tourism - it's an industry. It's money. They will never allow me.”
It happened that I convinced everybody - the government, the mayor,
the police commissioner. In short, we did it and we had 100,000 people there. So, this connection to France:
you need one-and-a-half years to do something like that, so I came back to and stayed in France.
I still live in France now.
So you..?
I am officially French, even though I’ve spent more than half my life elsewhere. In any case, in the coming weeks,
it will be half France, half LA.
I miss LA a lot.
When you’ve spent 22 years of your life at LA with your kids,
who were born there, but where I live, it's on horseback.
Right now, you are recording as…
I am near the end of a new album.
What motivates you?
I have magnificent people working with me. Musicians like Beyonce’s wonderful stage bassist.
I have Steve Wonder's stage keyboard player. I have a guitarist who is a wonderful guitar player.
We also have vocal features. I have Aloe Black who is... I even did a duet
with a stellar drummer called Tony Allen (who is really the main reference for afro-jazz) and also with a French group called Breakbot.
I have forgotten some of the best, but it’s an album.
It’s been 8 years since I last released a new album. I will be really happy [when it’s finished].
It will be released in spring. Since we are not looking for any spotlight, we’re releasing the first songs,
the least commercial songs, in December: for instance, the one with Tony Allen.
Which is called “Afro”?
Exactly.
I had the chance to listen to it.
And the title is called “Second Chance.” It has nothing to do with waiting for a second chance, though.
That is also the return of the Cerrone percussionist.
It’s quite close to Brigade Mondaine.
The other Kongas, it’s Brigade Mondaine…
Yes, yes, exactly.
So, you see: there was need to be embarrassed about Brigade Mondaine.
Well, this was made spontaneously in the studio. We were playing together. We have no idea
what we would keep of it. We got out of the studio and we said, “It’s lame,” we listened to it the next day and said,
“Ah, we’ll work on it again.”
We’ve finished the first performance of the concept. I did it 15 days ago in Nice,
in Nancy: where we set up two drums and did the thing live. It was really great.
It was well received by the public.
Because you really thought about what you were going to do - and try to keep the Cerrone feel –
how do you avoid the trap that producers of your generation fall into, in trying to make it more youthful?
And in France, there are many...
Yes, yes. No one can accuse me of that.
This, on one has ever accused me of that. I have never changed direction.
I would rather have disco be “outdated,” if we can say that,
than change direction. No one can accuse me of this.
But, on the other hand, you cannot be fooled by the evolution which is taking place. You cannot be fooled by that.
You mean technological advances?
Of course: the sound and tones, the artistic constructions, and cultural - not cultural. I mean the techniques that the DJs have brought.
The public doesn’t even notice it,
but the DJs changed all of the musical construction of songs in the 2000s. It's not the same.
You are forced to follow the movement or otherwise you just become tacky.
Getting duped into trying to be young to follow the movements is stupid. There is no artist who can do that,
because the public would rather have a young one do it than an old one trying to be young.
On the other hand, you cannot put on blinkers and not hear what’s happening - especially when it’s good.
I try, carefully, to do an amalgamation. I am not trying to stay young, but I’m not fooled by the evolution
of what is happening at the production level. I don't think that the musical evolution has been successful.
It’s because of this that all the producers are going back to the origins, you can say,
of this dance music style. But you cannot be fooled by the evolution of the production
because it’s the DJs that we call stars today. In my time we would have called them the stars of engineering,
because they have talents.
They are not there by accident. David Guetta, for example, is number one in the United States.
He is not there by accident.
I have seen him on stage.
We did a festival together this summer, at an event with 30-50,000 people.
He’s also a friend of 30 years and I have seen him - dear God, you do not ask questions
about where he is. It’s really all right when I say, “Whoa, you have to have talent.”
It doesn’t matter if there are 10 guys with him. There are some who will say, “But it’s not him who writes...”
But what do we care? When it’s released, when the public comes and buys a ticket, he will see a guy
who is the artist and he is happy when he goes home. Is he disappointed or not?
Like I told you at the beginning of our interview, I had never made records on my own, ever.
You have to be a mythomaniac to be able to say such nonsense. Talent is about knowing how to be surrounded by the right talents.
Who are the artists that interest you today?
Oh, there are quite a lot.
When you say that...
I think that there are many. I have noticed that there has been a true artistic evolution in the past 3 or 4 years.
There are so many. I don’t have any specific names to give you right now, but there are quite a lot.
We are really in an era where… I did not really like the 2000s EDM sound.
You don’t really know which person is doing what, and they all sing the same way. But since 2011: yes, there are some songs.
I heard the new Adele album last week in the United States. There are really so many things. There are mountains of talents.
Will you work with them?
You are intrusive.
I will only say when it’s done.
Alright. Have you made mistakes in your life? In your career?
Excuse me?
Have you made mistakes in your career?
Of course.
And they would be? Would that be intrusive?
I do not want to talk about them because we do rest on mistakes. We move on.
But it would be pretentious to say that I didn’t make mistakes. Of course I have. It’s inevitable.
Mistakes help you to move forward, but you should not dwell on them, either.
Okay. We will finish soon.
This will be your last question and then the public will ask you questions.
However, I would really if it someone brought me a full glass - is there anyone in this hall?
When the Daft Punk album was released…
Do you agree with me? It's similar to a white curtain. We can’t see anyone from here.
It's true.
We have extremely powerful lights ahead of us...
When Daft Punk released “Random Access Memories” they worked with many legendary musicians.
Were you a little bit disappointed that you weren’t invited?
I would say no.
Like, “Giorgio was there, why not me?”
No, no. No because, no.
Wait. I am looking for an answer.
I understand that because Nile Rodgers is one of the members of Chic, and Giorgio Moroder was Donna Summer's producer. Me, I was always quite out in front.
I think that’s one of the reasons. You see: [Daft Punk] did not put an artist out in front. Nile Rodgers,
he’s a guitarist for Chic. Giorgio Moroder, it’s the first time that he’s out in front.
I have been asked quite a lot of questions in the year-and-a-half or two years since it was released:
“Giorgio Moroder, this and that, and what do you think of his comeback?”
It’s not a comeback. I’ve met him quite often at the Grammy Awards or on TV shows with Donna Summer, and she’s the one out in front.
I was in the front. We did not talk about Giorgio Moroder.
He was the producer in the background.
Today is the era where we talk about producers.
I am really glad for him – and in respect to his age on top of that, the poor fellow.
Finally, he’s in the foreground. No, it’s not mean. Besides, it’s someone who I respect a lot.
I mean, when you are 75-years old and you are placed at the forefront, it’s quite amazing.
It’s quite unexpected, I imagine. It’s a nice gift for him.
And what do you think of..
Daft Punk? A bit like you, they went to the United States, in way - Ah well, it's amazing.
They really understood. Whether it’s artistically or in respect to sound, I would say that the first thing that touched me about Daft Punk,
and that I really liked, was the sound. Even though they copied from everywhere,
I don't mind. They have earned it. They have appropriated it from the time.
It’s like a singer who sings a tune: we do not really listen to the magnificent production,
they just appropriate things with their talents.
And if there is a talent that the Daft Punk have, it’s to appropriate things. We don’t care. I was sampled by them
(in agreement, like we say), but I promise you that if he didn’t tell me about it I probably wouldn’t even have noticed,
because they capture things and produce the texture of their sound. One more time:
Daft Punk would not have been where they are today if they did not have the talent that they obviously have.
Is it true that you are one of the five most sampled artists in the world?
I will be pretentious and tell you that there aren’t five...
Two? And you do not sample at all?  - It hasn’t happened yet, but maybe one day.
No, I don't really need it. I have a big index, I have a big bank account.
But Nile Rodgers, it was through Chic, and yes, yes. I can imagine that we had passed 200 successful title associations,
also were successes. They are probably because of that, that from generation to generation,
I was sampled and copied because the sound part,  which had prevented me from getting old
or outdated, if you want, even if certain would not consider it today, without kidding, this has kept me
it kept me  on the top --, this has helped me surf over that.
All right. Thank you and now I would pass the microphone to whoever
-- if I manage to see them.
Good evening.
Good evening.
The question that I would like to ask is, I have read Nile Rodgers' autobiography, it's Chic, and at a certain,
he talks about disco sex . It was an era which was quite violent towards disco in the United States --
That's correct, yes.
-- where it seems that even were burnings in stadiums where disco vinyl were practically being burnt,
and you have really insisted about Nile Rodgers and you said, yes, and you talked about the period
when you were has been and I would really like to have, your feelings regarding this event?
Thank you. That feels good.
The disco sex is what I explained, it was French, Italian, stars or from any other countries in the world,
that were asked by record houses to record with a disco orchestration, meaning with violin rhythms, brass,
the foot all the time, but these were songs and that, the Americans did not accept it at all because
in the United States as well, artists like Barbara Streisand, for instance, who is also an artist whose career we can respect,
it is not pejorative when I say that but when I heard one of the Guipps brothers,
Bee Gees sorry, started to do a duet with a disco title, it was on the radio but all the aficionado, those who really like
the disco atmosphere and who understood, which is a bit different, they were hammered by the media
because disco is a musical atmosphere, it's not a tune even if there are melodies. It's not exactly the same thing.
I had never heard that it's better than the other. It's not the same thing. And the Americans were aggressive,
it happened in the 80s. They called it disco sucks, that is, shit disco
I do agree with them a bit.
Another question?
Hello.
Hello.
You were mixing this summer in the big festivals, and I would like to know in regards to huge live performances,
how did you feel at that moment?
Ah. Good question. My record house, Because, two years told me, "You have to do to do a DJ set, obviously .."
I said, "No, no. I am musician, I really like to perform live, I really like sweating, I really like to watch my bassist
and to explore things that are not defined at the beginning." And then they insisted, they start giving small suggestions
that started to ring in my mind saying that, But wait, you cannot do like a DJ, while playing others' hit
if you play DJ, it's another way of expressing yourself, you will only play your titles.
But you can remix live and it's true that this hit me a bit. So in my studio because I am forced to --
wherever I live, whether in France or United States, I always have a studio because between 10am to 8pm
I have to play music, it's my life. So I started buying a platinum pioneer, I started buying an Appleton
I started to buy stuffs for DJ and tried to work. And I noticed that it was not easy at all.
But I had start building something and after a couple of months, I told Because, the record house,
I would like to try. In short, it has been two years. Today, thanks to, I have the chance to --
and they proved to me that if I didn't agree to do that, I would not have to chance to do huge festivals
as I had the chance to this summer like Gladstone Bury, which is one of the biggest festivals in the world,
in England and I had the chance to play in front of 30,000 and see that half knew half of my titles.
So I never really thought -- I would never could perform live, and whether they are huge festivals,
others that I could do in other places in the world. I am really glad that he forced me to do that and to conclude,
what is the reception when you are musician and that you perform in a public whether it's 5000, 10,000 or 100,000
or whatever, it's really a game of seduction. It's really a connection --
to capture the other and seduce him and bring him to you.
And DJ-aying, it's the same thing, because I can tell you, if you use the wrong title, by the 12th minute or 17th or 22nd,
and you feel that the people are less interested and you have to keep them under pressure, it's really a job
and at the end of a live concert, or at the end of a set that lasts 1 hour and a half, one hour or 2 hours,
when I move to the front to the public and say Ciao, well, they are really happy.
The only difference that I see between doing a DJ set, or live, it's the tiredness that I feel.
When I perform live, I can tell you that I am broken into two, because I get older, whereas when I make a set,
I feel that I can do one or to continue some more. Otherwise, the exchange part with the public, it's the same.
So, I have to say that I have to chance to have a huge titles catalogue , so, I only play my music,
people get into my universe or not, but otherwise, it's a good experience. I am really glad to have listened
to the influence and everything that I was forced to do. Yes.
Good evening.
Good evening.
Is there an artist -- a young French artist that you appreciate specifically? By young, I mean an artist who has just launched, or recently just launched?
Yes, recently there has been one, Christine and the Queens01:14:41], it's a revelation, in her settings, in her concept,
Yes, recently there has been one, Christine and the Queens, it's a revelation, in her settings, in her concept,
in her sound, in her texts, I have never been fond of French songs, but I see that France really has something serious.
I know that she has started to tour in the United States, and the reception is phenomenal. Phenomenal.
Hello. 
 Hello.
I was wondering when you spending time in New York, if you went out to clubs, and what clubs you went to and what that was like.
We just start to plan some tour in States. It's gonna be -- the organisation is gonna come with the release of the new LPs,
so, it's gonna be probably the springtime and summer time.
Well, we are going to bid you goodnight.
Uh, is there another one ?
I was curious. You are working now with Tony Allen and a lot of your earlier music had a lot of influence,
African influence, what type of exposure had you had to African music when you started making the Kongas and these other groups?
I think the influence of the African style come with my band in the early 70s with the band Kongas.
We were really impressed by the African music because of percussion. And when you are a drummer, of course,
you have the door completely opened for African rhythm because the African rhythm, it's to move the body,
it's to influence the body, to feel the body. So, if you feel that, of course, that prints your style and this is what happened for me, with Kongas.
Good evening. The release of your new album is due for when?
I can't see the lady at the back but, mademoiselle, it's if everything goes as planned, I think it's for March or the month of April,
something like that. I am impatient for the release. There is an extract, like I said earlier, there is an extract
that will be released with Tony Allen in December, oh, there is something else that I will also do in this extract
that will be released, oh, I am embarrassed. I am embarrassed. With another famous artist, sorry.
Manu Di Bongo !
 
His manager came to me and asked what could we do together ?
And at the end of the day, you were asking me earlier whether I had done a sample, but yes, it's true.
The first time, I had sampled the loop of Sumakosa of Manu Di Bongo that I know since many years because
we crossed paths in concerts, even during the 70s. I said, "Oh yes, we will do something afro."
So I composed around this sample and this is getting released with the Tony Allen. So, it's what we called an EP
it's four titles, very afro. It's the most afro titles and the least commercial of the album. With a remix of Tall Edwards,
I have this chance, I have this chance where lots of people like to put their hands in my work.
which will be released under the same EP
Mr. Cerrone? I have a follow up question
 Where are you?
Right here. A follow up question regarding your recent collaborators. It feels that throughout the 70s until now,
the act of producing music kind of switched from being a very communal affair to something
more done by one or two individuals. You seem to still work with a lot of people and enjoy that process.
Is that still something important to you?
I am not sure I understand your question.
Okay. Okay fine. I am always working as a band, as a -- with the people around of me because it's not the same
when you work in front of your computer. You can say that at the end of the day, Oh, it's so good.
I am so good. I am so well. And that is not my type of -- the way to work. I must have a feeling with my musician,
this is why I like to perform or to record live stations with the real bass players, with real guitars, and to have the influence of a
the engineer, the engineer also, it's not the guy who to record and push the red button, that's it.
He has to give me something, otherwise, I change the engineer. I mean, my spirit it's the band attitude, not like a conductor
Good evening, Sir. 
 Good evening.
You have built your sound universe around drums because you are a drummer and today, drums have disappeared a little bit from pop, dance --
Excuse-me?
I meant, in favour of drum machines, computers, on top of acoustic instruments. What are your thoughts on this? Is it something that saddens you a bit?
I think that -- I think I am on the other side of your understand. I think that drums have never been in the forefront before
they have never been that stars. There is no music style today, there is no single
there is no music where drums are not at the forefront. Now, whether they are played by a real drummer
or that they are played by a drum machine, at a certain moment,
there was someone who played it even if it's an instrument.
Of course.
But you cannot say that today, drums are not valued. It has never been more valued today. I think that,
without any pretensions on my part, but if drum producing houses -- we are reaching the end of the interview --
whether it's drum manufacturers, whether it's the whole world, whether it's original drummers like Tony Allen,
or others drummers, I do not consider myself as having been a great technical drummer, but having placed drums
in the forefront, I think I have a minimum responsibility, I really think the drum has never that much in the forefront before.
We had never really felt before in the musical universe that we can hear everywhere, the rhythm.
It's the drum. Whether it's played in real or it is played by a drum machine -- you know how a drum machine is made?
Behind it, there is a drummer who recorded it. So, instead of playing it live, you push a button and you hear what the drummer had played. So, it's the drum.
Thank you very much. 
 If that pleases you.
Good evening again.
You have the right to one more question, you have already asked one before.
Since you played it very collective from the beginning of the night, I would like to know if today --
if you had, what is your idol being a drummer and then, I would like to know --
Tony Allen.
Bravo. Afrobeat, really good reference.
Voila. Otherwise, I would have done it with someone else.
All right. And if today you had the opportunity to set up a super band, a super group, who are the musicians,
dead or alive, you would do it?
Ah. No. No. I am not excited --
I do not have. No, wait, why do you want me -- I still have the chance
to have a career that still works, with an album that will be released, I had done a tour which was fine.
Why do you want me to go and bother myself with setting up with a new group, and restart from square one,
If I want to play with a great musician for my record, for instance a great drummer, well, I would call Tony Allen.
If I find that there is a bassist that's driving me crazy because when I hear Beyoncé and I listen back to the concert DVDs,
I say, "Oh, the bassist, he is so good". So I call the bassist and he comes and play for my album.
But from there to go in crusade and set up a new group, but no wait. But if one day, if I have a bad career
or that I am in retirement perhaps, but, I would not see the appeal, to be honest. However, I would invite
them to come and participate in my album or for a live performance. It happens quite a lot that --
it's not enough to hold concerts with Nile Rodgers because he invites me to Montreux to jazz festivals, I do it.
It happens quite a lot, yes, you participate, a mix of artistic with people that I respect, yes. But to restart a group, no, it's not of my time anymore.
Good evening. I am here. I wanted to ask you, in the 70s-80s, when you have the opportunity to be in the United States,
in New York, in which clubs did you have the experience visiting and what was your experience regarding these New Yorker festive places?
It was amazing, I can't tell, it was quite rascally . I remember --
I don't know if you were born already, I don't think so. In 75, there comes the pill. You have no idea what this triggered.
This triggered an excess. At the same time, the rediscovery of the -- even though it did not really disappeared, cocaine.
Then came an era which was very provocative, that's why artists like me or Gautier ou Goude
got out because this was an era very very provocative, meaning that you had to dare. So, in a new club,
closed where no one could come in, Nile Rodgers, it was forbidden. That's how he created the song, Le Freak, c'est Chic,
meaning that he was forbidden because you needed to be a happy few to enter these areas
which were not very big, which were smaller than Le Palace which there was in Paris, for instance.
So, no, I really can't tell you. On top of that, I have my wife in the hall, I would feel embarrassed.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Maybe one last question and then we will let Marc go. Everything is good? Perfect.
Which does not mean that it was a threesomes club , do not exaggerate.
We will still bid you goodnight. I was glad -- 
 You kind of got into my personal life, but that's all right.
Next time. 
 No, no next time. 
[Laughter]
Well, thank you. 
 It's me who thanks you. 
 But I will stay convinced that you invented French disco.
I am making you angry right till the end. But it's a compliment --
Ah well, if it's to please me, it does not bother me. I do not really think that there is French disco, Italian, or German.
There is Italo-disco, which is not really the same thing.
It's true. This is what we called the origin of the Euro disco, anyway. 
 Exactly.
