ARTIST PROFILE Chloé Thévenin
I play and produce electronic music that oscillates between left-field, electro, house, minimal, techno, no wave, indie, and ambient, with an inclination to tell stories and shift away from the club format.
I have always been inspired by music since I was a teenager. Playing guitar, digging records, and listening to many styles shaped a big part of my identity and individuality. I never meant to become a musician though. In the mid-90s, I entered the electronic music world, going to rave parties, club nights and digging electronic music records. This was when I started Djing and producing. I was studying law simultaneously, but I realized I was more inspired by music production at a time when electronic music wasn't an industry. I'm glad I kept doing my thing. I grew up with the democratization of electronic music.
What are your greatest inspirations or influences in life - and with your music?
Inspiration comes from everywhere. It begins with how I feel about the world. I have always admired musicians like Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, Boards of Canada, Pink Floyd, John Cage, Giacinto Scelsi, The Beatles, Luciano Berio, and Aphex Twin, Larry Heard and Patti Smith among others. Also, going in nature, taking the time to contemplate, and taking photos are meditative activities that bring me to another dimension of life, a purely interior one. People, books, an exhibition, new music, geek things, learning, creating my movement that can also transform the direction of my work and provoke a creative reaction.
«Darkroom (excerpt from Counting Stars With You)»
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDEjR9L7pb8
How and when did you begin producing soundtracks for film? Can you tell us about your latest OST work? What fascinates you about working with film?
I have had the chance to be approached by directors who proposed collaborating on OST. I started with short movies - like the collaboration with Lidia Leber Terki who then offered me to work on a longer film. Then I worked with directors Fernando Guzzoni, Laurent Cantet, and Thomas Salvador. My latest OST is on Fernando Guzzoni’s’ Blanquita’. It is the story of a Chilean sex scandal that involved politicians. Fernando Guzzoni wanted me to accompany this ever-present tension without ever imposing it too much. It was a matter of constantly finding a balance between a minimalist atmosphere and moments of progressive saturation. The ethereal and organic textures gradually become colder and more electronic. This in-between time is at the center of the music in this film. The music illustrates the impalpable place in which Blanca and the priest find themselves. The sounds are built up in successive layers, which, by adding up as they go along, create ambiguous, sometimes disturbing tones. I play with textures, melodies lost in reverberations, dissonant harmonies, evocations of acoustic instruments, and silence. It was fascinating to work with Fernando Guzzoni, as he wished to remain on this idea of suspension and, therefore, the music never has a precise musical pattern.
BLANQUITA by Fernando Guzzoni - International Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSL7kNSdGlM
About your label: how do you select the artists and music to release and the type of collaborations you decide to establish and/or bring forward?
We release electronic music we fall in love with; it is mainly club music, but not only, as we stay open to some crossover artists. We put the same level of excitement on each release. We have the chance to get music from friends' producers, we also make requests to some artists we do love the music, and we also receive a lot of demos from newcomer artists, it takes some time to listen, but we also find some great music that fits perfectly to the label.
An artist such as Sutja Gutierrez, who released his excellent ‘Phylax Society’ LP last year, is musically positioned somewhere between the cosmic of the late 70s, the recent cold wave, and more dance-floor-leaning techno. Nicol's 'Analogue Vertigo’ EP was released on October 7th on Lumière Noire. His music is between twilight techno haunted by ghostly vocals and more classic, mental, psychedelic, minimal techno. The EP includes a discoid techno remix by producer and DJ Cornelius Doctor.
Nicol's 'Analogue Vertigo’ EP
https://lumierenoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/analogue-vertigo-1
There is also an important graphic dimension in the label with the contribution of Dune Lunel Studio which takes care of the visual identity of Lumière Noire and proposes illustrators or photographers to involve in the making of the records’ cover design. We also wish to collaborate with this studio to create objects in small quantities. For example, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the label, we gave the studio carte blanche to design a fanzine that we like to call a “Deluxe Zine.” We are sensitive to the paper used and the printing technique - trying as much as possible to meet the requirements of respect for the environment.
In terms of events with your label and live performances (solo or collaboratively), what can we look forward to and/or what are you working on at the moment to bring on stage?
I had have a club residency at Rex Club in Paris for years, and I still do. We also have the chance to collaborate with alternative spaces such as art centers. Among those are 104 in Paris, where we did our anniversary celebration, Guggenheim in Bilbao, and Centre Pompidou, where we can bridge the gap between live performances and club nights and show the label in all its diversity. In terms of live performances, I played a lot in my duo project with marimba player Vassilena Serafimova. Together, we released the album 'Sequenza’ last year on Lumière Noire. We had excellent remixes from Irène Dresel, Donato Dozzy, Asa Moto, Krikor, and Pional. Recently I did a few remixes and released an EP on DGTL Records. At the moment, I am mainly playing DJ sets.
https://lumierenoire.lnk.to/sequenza
https://lumierenoire.lnk.to/SequenzaRemixes
As an artist with a prolific career, how do you prioritize your wellbeing?
This is indeed an essential dimension of my job. Being often on the road and playing late at night, made me understand that if I wanted to continue practicing this profession, I had to have a healthy life. Avoiding drinking alcohol makes a difference the day after the party. I also practice meditation and yoga. I often walk in nature and take time off in the mountains.
Photo credit © Alexandre de la Madeleine
