Musical geniuses need not be humble
Poised at a piano, Chilly Gonzales adopts a scowl, bringing to mind a 1930s New Yorker cartoon of a self-serious composer. As if to complete the look, the Canadian musician has brought along a moustachioed German cellist. Considering Gonzales’s penchant for Dadaist humour, such a scenario is not out of the realm of possibility. But when the two begin playing, bringing the delicate interplay of “Cello Gonzales” to life, such notions are rendered moot. A few days after recording the song for NP Sessions, Gonzales spoke with the Post’s Jonathan Dekel.
Q You’ve played on albums by Feist, Drake and Daft Punk and you’re latest classical album, Chambers, is inspired by hip hop. How would you categorize yourself as an artist?
A I live in the world of pop. Pop is strong enough to be considered an attitude as well as a specific code of what it should sound like. So I don’t believe I’m in the same genre of music as Taylor Swift but I try to approach my music in the same way they approach theirs.
Q But you’ve dabbled in the world of pop.
A Sure, if I play on a Daft Punk or a Drake album it’s because there’s a way for me to be connected to it. Those people hear that my approach is pop. They hear my classical records and realize that they’re not just classical or jazz piano but pop piano. And those two people in particular realized that and thought well, it’s not much of a stretch to invite him into the more obvious word of Drake singles or Daft Punk albums.
Q You recently caused a stir recently by performing a song called, “F--k Wagner” on German television.
A Well, I didn’t write history. I live in Cologne, Germany, and every day I walk on Richard Wagner Street and I think to myself, “This guy’s a monster, how did that happen?” It’s shocking to me.
Q Chambers is an album for piano and quartet yet it’s based on the principals of rap. That may throw some people off but the two musical genres have much in common: beefs, murder and credibility play roles in both.
A Sure, there’s lots of parallels. Liszt and Paganini encouraged a cult that they were possessed by demons so a little bit of Marilyn Manson, the blues and cursed rappers torn between the Church and the strip club. It’s all there by way of inhabiting a fantasy. That’s why when I call myself a musical genius it’s a fantasy fulfilment, just like Kanye West saying, “I am a god.”