MY TECH JEAN-MICHEL JARRE
THE GODFATHER OF ELECTRO, 71, TALKS TO VERITY BURNS ABOUT BEAMING LIVE TO SPACE, AI TECH AND ELON MUSK
You’ve always liked combining technology with music. Where did that passion come from?
My grandfather, André Jarre. He invented one of the first mixing desks in the world and also created one of the first portable turntables with batteries built in. He gave me a tape recorder when I was about 12 and I spent hours recording everything. I was lucky to be born at the rise of analogue synthesisers and able to learn this new way of creating music, so I’ve been interested in mixing music and technology ever since.
You’ve said that now’s the most exciting time to make music. How has technology changed the experience?
Smartphones and tablets have democratised the whole music-making process. With just a laptop you can write, compose, produce and distribute your music. However, I also think the difficulty today is that everything is too accessible. Limitations are actually very important for helping creative people find their own identity.
You’re known for your boundary-pushing live performances. What has been the most memorable?
In the late 1980s, I worked with Nasa to create the first live performance from space, where an astronaut [Ron McNair] was supposed to appear on stage with me, playing the saxophone, via video projection. But this was the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, which tragically crashed after lift off. Instead, the concert became a tribute to those who lost their lives. Later, in 1997, I performed to 3.5million people at a concert in Moscow. We beamed a live link to the astronauts on the Mir Soviet space station, which was pretty special.
You’ve been using AI in music composition…
Yes, I’ve been working with Sony’s Computer Science Labs in Tokyo, which has created the most sophisticated algorithm for AI music composition, called Flow Machines. We have created an app called EōN. It’s like a neverending album that changes every time you listen to it. You produce a piece of music then you leave the algorithm to suggest different arrangements and tempos. I love the idea that every person will have a different experience.
Do you use many apps?
I use a lot of musical apps in my studio. I love this idea of having an old modular synthesiser side by side with an iPad and combining the two. I think touchscreens are important to allow musicians to create an organic, emotional relationship with the software in the same way as you would by touching an instrument.
Do you see tech as good or bad for our future?
For years our dreams for technology were very positive but we’ve become more anxious that we’re heading for something more dystopian. But in the past five or ten years it feels like we’ve started shaping the future in a positive way again. We have things like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space exploration project and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, plus Stephen Hawking’s vision that mankind should colonise space if we want to survive. Technology is neutral, it’s how we use it that counts.
What piece of technology couldn’t you live without?
My Nespresso Magimix CitiZ machine. It keeps me going!