Rolling Stone Magazine

Rolling Stone Interview

The Buddy System

Current Project
Moon Safari, an album of exquisitely produced electronic pillow talk with a lounge-a-tronica vibe thicker than Maurice Chevalier's accent. The Parisian pair is currently on its first U.S. tour.

Inaspicious Meeting
Nicolas: "We met at school. We were fifteen. We were in this school in Versailles where there were a lot of musicians, so everybody had formed a band and everybody was playing in each band a different position. You could be the guitar player in one band and the synthesizer guy in another." JB: "In this time, we were very interested to do a very loud, heavy sound. Aggressive. Because we wanted to complain." Nicolas: "The first band we formed was called Orange. We sent some tapes to the record companies, and we were refused everywhere. So we make some studies. I was an architect student, and JB was a math teacher." JB: "It was hard for me to be a teacher because I have a lock for authority when I speak to people. They think I am very nice. It's hard when you want to be master of the class."

Work Ethic
Nicolas: "We never hesitate to throw away something the other doesn't like. I think good ideas are dangerous because you don't work them a lot. But if you work a bad idea and you get it better and better, it's a beautiful thing." JB: "The most important thing is to have plenty of ideas." Nicolas: "We use the instruments that were popular when we were young, because they are very cheap. The DX-7 of Yamaha ruled the world at one time, so you can find the keyboards for nothing at the flea market."

Nicolas on JB
"In fact, maybe he is more instinctive. Sometimes I think too much. When we are two in a room, we create a new person. He will be very happy to say bad things about me."

JB on Nicolas
"At first we wanted to follow different types of music. Nicolas was more interested in funk music. It was not my specialty."

Fun Fact
After the tour, the duo will begin working on its next album. Nicolas: "When we started making music, we were working in my living room, so we have to be quiet, no drums, that kind of thing. But now we have a studio, so the next album will be more noisy." JB: "There will be thrash, very fast tempo, with distortion in guitars and keyboards, very strange sounds, very suprising. But there will also be low tempo. Sometimes very sexual."