INTERVIEW: GALERIE STRATIQUE Distant Neighbourhoods

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Posted on Nov 11th 2008 01:01 am

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INTERVIEW: Galerie Stratique

French-Canadian artist Charles-Emile Beullac has been recording as Galerie Stratique for some time. Having made his first appearance on Worm Interface’s Alt Frequencies series, he went on to release his debut album, Nothing Down-To-Earth, on the now-defunct Law & Auder imprint in the early 00s. His warm and organic blend of electronic sounds was developed further on his sophomore effort, Horizzzons. His most recent album, Faux World, released recently, denotes a radical change of direction. Based around sound samples recorded during a series of improv sessions and with instruments collected during a trip to Indonesia, the new album was partly inspired by the random memories Beullac had of this trip as he fell victim of the side effects of anti-malaria tablets. Here, he talks about his musical education, from learning classical music to discovering electronic music through Jean-Michel Jarre, how changing direction became important and what the future has in store for him.

How did you come to music?

I’d rather say that music came to me and I’ve been receptive. From four to eleven, I had violin, then flute lessons. Then I got a small Casio synthesizer. From eleven, I started thinking about becoming a classical music composer.  All those projects never came to an end, but the interest for music has been nurtured in different ways since my youngest age and I am grateful for that.

Your first released track was on Worm Interface’s Alt Frequencies 4. How did this happen?

In late 1999, I sent demos to a few hip IDM labels at the time. Worm Interface mailed me back a few weeks later saying they’d like to get one track for their next compilation. I never got such a good timing in demo-sending since then!

A year later, your first album, Nothing Down-To-Earth was released on another British label, Law & Auder

Yeah, Phil Earle liked the album a lot and did his best to promote my music. That was sweet. That was the very last record Law & Auder ever produced. Obviously, I didn’t succeed in saving their financial situation.

It’s been a while since your last record. What have you been up to in the last five years?

Living, working at my regular day job, travelling a bit, getting married…  I can spend months without making any music and then, start composing day and night. While making Faux World, it took a few months before I really got the sound I was looking for. This album should have been released about two years earlier. Many decent labels from Leaf to No Type and Locust showed interest but nothing happened (with them or elsewhere). Finally, I had to wait until my financial situation allowed me to self-release it via Statik, a Canadian distributor. That was the best I could do. I don’t like it much when artists are releasing two or three albums a year. I listen to a lot of music and I still can’t catch up with the essentials.  So many talented artists out there! I appreciate when they wait until they can deliver their very best at once. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Your new album has a very different sound, partly because it is primarily based on samples, where Horizzzons didn’t have any. Can you tell us how the album came up, and why you chose this particular path?

I worked very hard to make Horizzzons as relaxing and enjoyable as possible but I’ve been deceived by the little attention it received. So I felt I had no obligation in keeping a specific style or whatsoever – and I was convinced that my public was open-minded enough to understand this choice. At the same time, I realised that my love for odd experimental music was not obvious enough on my albums. I also got a little tired of being often compared to Boards Of Canada. So I changed to something more personal and cathartic. I think it all began one morning when I woke up too sick to go out – I turned my synth on and ended up creating an odd plucked string sound tuned into a gamelan scale (sound used on tracks six, thirteen and fourteen from Faux World). From that point, I’ve left behind electronic music to produce strange music that could have been produced in an obscure far-away country. Around the same time, I was playing with loops of field recordings of crowds with bits of speech of a surreal banality, all recorded at shopping malls around here – I’m a little claustrophobic – and they appeared really alien to me despite being local. And slowly the concept of Faux World came to me; something that is as alien as it is personal.

How did you develop the way the album sounds? Was it a very natural process for you to move away from what you had done before, or did it require a lot of effort to devise a new way to produce music?

I felt it was getting harder to produce unknown sounds only from synthesisers so I got myself a waterphone and many other acoustic instruments. Aside self-samples, improvisation has been another new feature in my last album. I had to move from an artistic comfort zone to pure creativity, to get back the enthusiasm I had when I started making music. I also changed my compositional technique by using different simple tools to sequence these audio collages.

Do you think you will push the sound exploration you have started with Faux World further in the future? How do you think you will take this forward?

Probably. These methods are quite efficient for creating complex rhythms from simple sounds. I’d either push them a little more with new techniques or try a totally different way of composing. I don’t think I will go back to synth-based music soon.

In recent years, you have released two net-only records, one made of outtakes from Horizzzons, and the other Point d’Orgue. Can you tell us about these and why you choose to release them on the web?

I didn’t want to properly release the outtakes from Horizzzons. I don’t think it’s top quality material, but they’ve been downloaded a lot. On the other hand, I really thought Point d’Orgue was a good ‘kitsch’ mini-album, like a mix between Cluster (Zuckerzeit era) and a very clumsy imitator of Booker T – me.  I tried in vain to find a label for it. Point d’Orgue got downloaded 10 times less than those IDM outtakes. It seems like only a few people appreciate that stuff. And I have to admit that the MP3 encoding makes it sound weaker – especially the snappy beats. I’d eventually like to release it on mini-CDRs or on a regular CDR with Antihoraire (outtakes from Faux World), but I’m too lazy/busy to do it. Any label interested??

You have worked on a few installations in recent years. How does this type of projects differ from your regular records, and is it something that you want to explore further?

They don’t differ much from my records. I even recycle some of these productions on my albums when they fit! I always try to give my best and that implies not being distracted too much from my musical obsessions of the moment, whether I’m working on an album or some other projects. But yes, I’d really like to be commissioned a little more for that kind of project in the future.

In 2005, you wrote the music for a dance performance. How did you approach this particular project? Were you involved in the concept?

Actually, I was helping a friend of mine who was doing a choreography project for the university. I had to merge a Pablo Neruda poem to a track of mine and then to an a-cappella song. That was an easy task, but it looks good on my resume! Strangely, another project of the same dance event was using a song from my first album. I was surprised.

You are also involved in a project which involves electronic composers and classical musicians. Can you tell us about this project, and will this be released?

Yes, that is my main project right now and it’s an exciting one! I’ve asked to the fourteen musicians of a modern classical music chamber orchestra (le Nouvel Orchestre d’Aujourd’hui) to record seven of their favourite sounds produced by their instrument. Then I asked six other electronic music composer (including Mitchell Akiyama, Montag, Magali Babin…) to create a four-to-eight minute track made only out of these sounds. Our compositions will then be orchestrated and played back by the fourteen musicians of the orchestra. I like the fact that it’s a project that only relies on musical concepts, a real, non-typical musical exchange. And getting our music played by an orchestra is a dream for many of us!

Some of the music you’ve released has a strong cinematic feel. Would you consider working on a film soundtrack, and if yes, do you have any idea of what type of movie?

I don’t think I’m qualified and equipped to do the sound design for a film. The result might just sounds like Manos: The Hands Of Fate. Seriously, I don’t like to be told what to compose, I just can’t stand it. It’s not a matter of pride, that’s just the way I am.  Creative freedom is my only motivation in music. Money is not, so I stick to my day job. And fame must be horrible; being hated by people you don’t even know!! But working with a producer I respect and who is familiar to my current musical production could be a great experience. What about an experimental film by W. Herzog? He probably never heard of me anyway…

On your website, you mention the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène as early musical memories. How do you think these have informed your work up to now? Are there any other major influences that have had the same impact?

I think that you can find many hints of Oxygène in my electronic production. Now, I guess Ligeti’s Atmosphères has taken that role with my experimental stuff. They’ve been my first contact with music and they’re still on my mind… which is also true for Plastic Bertrand, but I’m not sure if it has been influential in any way. I was also an absolute fan of TV cartoon Albator 78 (Harlock) which had a good sound environment made of analogue synths and strange sound effects.

Other important influences have been [chronologically]:

Watermusic (Haëndel) – Gave me the interest for classical music when I was eleven.

Olim Lacus Colueram (Orff), Pictures At An Exhibition (Moussorgsky/Ravel) - Both fascinated me with their grotesque sounds.

911 Is A  Joke (P.E.) - A teenage musical obsession, made me step into modern music.

A Forest (The Cure) – Made me realise that, after all I prefer atmospheric music.

Only Heaven/Heaven Deconstruction (Young Gods) - Not my favourite albums but their sound textures have been influential.

Grinning Cat (Susumu Yokota) - Made me want to leave 100% electronic music.

And I have a feeling that the Piano Trio No.2 Op.67 (Schostakovich) might influence some of my future works.

Amongst contemporary musicians and artists, who do you feel close to artistically, or who do you admire?

I am absolutely stunned by the amount of great artists and projects coming from the Norwegian scene, especially those from the Rune Grammofon label. I am also amazed by the psycho/electro-acoustic work of Francis Dhomont. The French-Canadian artists I feel artistically closer to right now are Nicolas Bernier and A_dontigny.

You explain what inspired you to write Faux World on the CD, but beside this particular project, where do you find the inspiration to create music?

I’d simply say sounds. As soon as I hear a fascinating one, I feel like I have to make music out of it. Another important factor is the mood. It has to be immersive and transcending in some way. Images and concepts are brought to life afterwards. A few years ago, I used to read record descriptions and reviews and then try to recreate how the music might or should sound like, without hearing the albums. Now I figure it out by myself.

You are from the French-speaking part of Canada, currently living in Québec City. Do you think it is in any way part of your music, or isn’t it important to you?

Québec City has always been a heavy metal hub. Take any famous eighties hair rock band here and they’ll fill the stadium. I have an epidermic reaction to that type of music, like an allergy. I guess my work has always been in reaction to that. Fortunately, the city is nice and peaceful. The love/hate relationship to our winter is also an endless source of inspiration for many of us.

Do you already have an idea of what your next album will sound like?

I really don’t know. I’m still thinking about it. But maybe it will get closer to modern classical and ambient at once.

You occasionally play live, and, from what you say on your website, you base your live work on improvisations. Does the music differ a lot from your recorded material, and is it something that you are keen on developing?

Actually, I’ve only played live two or three times. Performing is one of the only ways to make a living out of music in the MP3 era. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is a good thing for experimental music. To attract crowds, a lot of composers have decided to add rock and dance elements to their sounds. Now we’re stuck in an endless eighties revival!! *sigh

It is the depth of winter, and you are locked in your house for days. What are the five records/books/films that will help you pass the time?

Well, we never really get locked in the house for days. I even go to work by walking during huge snowstorms. But that would be great to stay in! If it was the case, those five works would be appropriate:

Records : Unerforschtes Gebiet by Thomas Köner

The Short Night by BJ Nilsen

Exil by Giya Kancheli

Book : Hunger by Knut Hamsun

Film : Solaris by Andrei Tarkovski

Email interview, October 2008

Galerie Stratique | Statik Distribution

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  1. […] Galerie Stratique interview with UK based on-line publication The Milk Factory can be found here.  Beulac’s current project is, of all things, an orchestral composition of singular sounds […]