Of Alpha to Zulu with Phoenix.
On September 26, phoenixvisited CDMX to offer a private concert at the party of American Express Platinumwith which they closed their extensive international tour in support of Alpha Zulutheir most recent album. I was fortunate to be able to talk for a few minutes with Thomas Marsvocalist of the band, and Laurent Brancowitzguitarist, about this album material, his incredible performance at the Closing Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and much more.
phoenix It is one of the most iconic acts of the french toucha genre that became popular in France during the 90s, the same decade in which they formally began after supporting air as his band for shows live, as well as after the separation of Darlin'project I had Brancowitz with the same Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter of daft punk.
Being a group with more than 30 years of history, I was wondering what is the biggest challenge to consider so that both the music and the relationship between the four members remain stable and fresh.
We like each other a lot, so the problem is how to keep a project and the music fresh. We consider ourselves as sailors, we are all in the same boat and there are always new things to discover. There are always new horizons, new territories and we simply like to be together on the boat, we like to sail. And in the end you find something or you don't find anything, it doesn't matter, but we enjoy each other's company. “Then there is this idea (musically speaking) that you are always looking for something and when you find it, it is very nice, but when we find it together, as a group of friends, it is even better,” Thomas mentioned.
This great relationship between the four members of phoenix It is palpable in their live performances, and they were recently the stars of one of the largest stages in the world by participating in the Closing Ceremony of Paris 2024, where they captivated the entire world and had as guests Air, Ezra Koenig, Kavinsky and Angele. About what the process was like before and during that show, Thomas and Laurent They shared the following with me.
“It was a very intense process, but when it happened, it made everything worth it because the moment was really beautiful. Being there in the stadium we forgot about work, we just enjoyed the beauty of the moment. Sometimes when you experience these types of events, it's a little abstract. You run, you don't really think. But this time it was really beautiful and we knew it was a memory that would last us forever. So we did the work because it was quite intense to organize everything, but we wanted to make it all worth it and we achieved it,” he said. Laurent.
The Olympics are very short, they simply exist for a short time. There was no other way we could have done this other than in that context and then we brought in Air as well because we've worked with them. We started as his backing band and we wanted to share this moment with the people who have seen us grow. It was very special and you know, all these bands were probably more loved in Mexico than in France at the beginning. Is called French Touchbut a lot of these bands were more appreciated outside of France than in their own country, so ultimately it was kind of a healing process in the country. It was like the best award you can receive, that the country honored its music and all this culture,” Thomas said.
In addition to having airanother of the special guests was the producer Kavinskywith whom they performed “Nightcall” next to the singer, Angele. The song became the most shazameada in a single day and a few weeks ago they decided to release a new studio version, so I asked them why they decided to include this song in their show and Thomas Mars He exclusively revealed to me a piece of information that until now he had not revealed to the public.
At first, I think we thought that if the music was good, the rest would follow, like the visual effects and everything else. We weren't sure what context we would play in. A stadium is a bit of a cold place to play, so we focused on the music and played our songs mostly, but then we thought about Air and 'Nightcall' (by Kavinsky) because there are songs that we have a great connection with. We had 20 minutes and we thought it would be a little long just for us, and 'Nightcall' was a song that Guy-Manuel from Daft Punk produced and at the time, he called me to sing on it. Since it was Guy-Manuel we knew it was going to be good, but I don't really do things outside of Phoenix. We like the bond we have too much, so we were at a time when we were focused on our own band. So this was a nice way to get back to what would have been. At first I was curious and asked Kavinsky 'what was the part you wanted me to sing?' and his response was like: 'I don't know, everything?' We didn't know, we just wanted you,' so it was a good way to collaborate on something that may have existed before, but never came true, and make it exist once and for all,” Thomas confessed.
Alpha Zulu It is the first album of phoenix which has a collaboration, which occurs in “Tonight”with Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend as guest vocalist. The singer is a great friend of the band and they have even performed it at various festivals such as Just Like Heaven and Primavera Sound and, although Thomas He didn't share with me if they met thanks to the filming of On The Rocksfilm directed by Sofia Coppola (with who Mars has been married for 13 years) in which he acts Rashida Jones (wife of Koenig), he did tell me a little about how the first dumbbell of Phoenix.
Ezra is a friend of ours and I think while we were making the song I was imitating him. You know, sometimes when you write a song you think you start with a specific mood or something and the sound he was making was similar to Ezra, so I thought instead of imitating or emulating Ezra, it was better to have him in the song. It's nice because he's someone who's really fun to work with and sometimes it's nice to open the circle when you're in a band. It's a bit like when you see Get Back of The Beatles and you see organist Billy Preston come in, it's the same feeling. Suddenly you're in the studio for so long that moments like that are when you realize, 'Oh! That's what we like about music.' And so it was, we had one of those moments,” Thomas said.
During the era of Alpha Zulu, phoenix also collaborated with Beck, Clairo, Pusha T and even Leon Larreguiso I was curious to know if they already had any other artists in mind with whom they would like to create something.
We don't know yet. We are very spontaneous. Sometimes it's the song that dictates. The song will tell you who he needs or if he really needs something. But it is true that opening the doors to new people opens our eyes. Great things are created when you have rocks that sparkle and new ideas that are unpredictable. In a way that's how the four of us work, because we never know where the song will go, so the combination of ideas that we love is unpredictable. Sharing it with other people we love is great. We discovered it precisely on the last album with Ezra,” Laurent responded.
After the success obtained in the Closing Ceremony, phoenix shared a photo of them “working” in a kitchen on social networks and, although Thomas Mars He confessed to me that that photo was part of a promotional session for a release in 2000, they did work together during a summer in a bar. I wondered what they would like to say to those four young people who were just starting out in the music industry and Laurent Brancowitz He responded with a great reflection on youth.
When we were very young, we were sure we were going to be as big as The Beatles. So that's the beauty of youth, that you're a little stupid. Stupidity is a very important tool, so I don't know what we would tell ourselves, but we were very sure we would have something (which was crazy in retrospect because we came from France and no one believed in it except us). But that's the important thing, that you believe in yourself and usually that is the lesson in all the movies and in all the stories feel-good.”
The music industry is not the same as it was three decades ago, so I took the opportunity to ask them what they consider to be the biggest challenge facing music today.
“There are like 50,000 songs that come out every day. It's a pretty big obstacle. And not just those that are written, but those that are published, I think. That's crazy. It's hard to exist in this when so many people are posting things. That's my obvious obstacle, I would say,” Thomas said.
But the industry wants you to replicate the success that happened six months ago, so the obstacle is trying to avoid that, because tomorrow's success is right in tomorrow. It's something no one has ever heard. For a young person like you, you should focus on what makes you different, not what makes you similar to what is currently successful. The success of the future is something that does not yet exist,” Laurent continued.
“I remember there was an ad for a children's toy, this cylinder with shapes like a star in which you have to pass things through that silhouette. There was a commercial where suddenly there was a cube and the cube didn't fit into the circle and the child is shown with a small hammer that is being forced in. That's a good example of creativity, you have to force your way through because if you just walk through it, there's no friction, there's nothing interesting,” Thomas replied. .
Finally I asked them about their several visits to Mexico and the one that stood out the most among Thomas and Laurent It was that epic residency they offered in May 2019 in The Plaza Condesa, venue which will undoubtedly always be in the hearts of the capital's fans and, apparently, of several of the artists who conquered its stage.
¡wow! When was that? 2017? Oh wait, it was 2019. That was a good time. We loved that residence, it has been one of the best shows that we have given. “It was beautiful, I heard that place doesn't exist anymore, that's sad,” Thomas recalled.
phoenix offered a tremendous show with the unmatched energy they provide on the stage, putting the final point of Alpha Zulu in one of his favorite cities in the world. Thomas He assured that from now on they will dedicate themselves to writing and recording their next album, so they will surely return to share new songs with us as soon as it is finished.
