M83 have had a string of international hits and critically acclaimed albums, with their 2011 single “Midnight City” reaching over 800 million listeners on Spotify.
According to music website Pitchfork, the band’s blend of dreamy electronica and soul rock has become “the staple stock of the most iconic indie bands”.
M83’s new album “Fantasy” is another slice of electronic trance that blends futuristic sounds with nostalgic vibes.
“It’s about escaping from the pressures of daily life and the environment of terrible news, leaving room for imagination and dreams,” Gonzalez told AFP.
No embarrassment
The B-movie horror mask on the cover highlights that Gonzalez prefers to stay hidden behind controls, rejecting the culture of excessive sharing online.
He said: “Over the past six years (since the previous album, ‘Junk’), the music industry has changed. Social networking has become more and more important. You basically have to not be humble.”
He created his own label in response, Other Suns, designed specifically for artists “who can’t record songs right now because they have to not only make good music, but also be an influencer”.
“I hear a lot of artists who don’t find a label because they don’t have enough followers, I find that tragic,” he said.
His adventures on social networks from time to time do not reassure him.
The French-born musician said, “There are people who probably follow me because of ‘Midnight City’… Well, I feel like I hate a certain part of my fans more, which makes me pin-up. He now lives in Los Angeles.”
emergency hatch
Gonzalez added that the entertainment industry increasingly looks like a rat race.
We miss the mystical side of artists today, unless you put out an album every year and major festivals every summer, it’s like you’ve disappeared.
“I take my time when I make my albums. It’s partly because I’m a coward, I don’t want to force my music on people all the time.”
Perhaps this reluctance explains why they are less popular in their native France than in the US and Great Britain, although they are typical of the dreamy “French touch” scene alongside bands like Daft Punk and Air.
“A lot of people (in France) don’t know he’s French and he had a huge career in the US before ‘Midnight City,'” said Paul Langois, president of the Beauregard Festival, where M83 is playing this summer.
For Gonzalez, born in Antibes on the French Riviera, his preoccupation with the modern world makes him all the more determined to create something that raises a time before all these questions.
He said, “As a teenager, I listened to albums that made me want to scream in my bedroom. I wanted adventure and freedom. That’s what I wanted to create on this album—an escape.”
