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Phoenix: Stereotypical rock star stunts are 'boring'
Manila first got a taste of Phoenix in 2014. Immediately after Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy and brothers Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai performed an explosive 18-song set at the World Trade Center, people wondered how soon they’d be back.
Fans’ prayers were answered at the Wanderland Music Festival in March when Karpos Multimedia, the concert production company that brought Phoenix to Manila, announced the band's return on Aug 15 at the Smart Araneta Center in Cubao.
A few weeks before their return, I got the chance to chat with “Branco” Brancowitz by phone. He talked about working on the new album “Ti Amo,” what he’d do if get some time off from the band, and the best thing anyone’s ever said about the music of Phoenix.
Where are you now and what’s outside your window?
Branco: I’m in Paris right now. I live in the center of Paris and I can see the rooftops, because I live in a high place, and it’s a beautiful day.
You just released a new album. How do you know when you’re ready to start working on a new record? Do you follow a schedule?
Usually what happens is that when we finish the tour, we reach a point of anxiety and feel a strong desire to write new music because we do not write really on tours. That’s one of our rules. So after a while, we miss the process of being in the studio and writing songs together. So to answer the question, it’s when the desire is strong and overwhelming.
In a recent New York Times interview, you said you developed a more structured work schedule while working on the new album. How long in total did you work on it and did you enjoy the experience of feeling of having a normal and regular job?
We worked on "Ti Amo" for about two years. And you’re right, we had something like normal working hours, which for us is kind of interesting because we’ve done a few albums during the night, sometimes during the early morning. So for us, this was really fun, something very structured. We really enjoyed it. Actually we were working in a recording studio in an old opera house in Paris. And to be there with a lot of young people working there, and working everyday was a very beautiful and nice experience.
Were you ever recognized by other people working there?
Ah yes, but after a while they got used to our presence. They would see us during their lunch breaks. They were like colleagues and friends. It was a nice, kind of campus vibe.
What would you say is the theme of the new album? It still sounds like a Phoenix record to me, but you mentioned in a previous interview that it’s tinged with darkness and tragedy.
I think it’s the most positive album that we’ve released. If you listen carefully you might hear that it’s also tinged with melancholy. I think that we meant…we made this during a time of tension in Europe. It’s like a reaction. It’s a positive album. And there is hope. It’s a very hopeful album.
You also mentioned in an interview that the concept for this current tour is “duality” and “mirrors.” Are you still doing that? How are you pulling it off?
We have a few different set-ups for the live show, depending on the kind of stage (we’re playing at). When we do a very big show, we use a giant mirror just hanging over us at a 45-degree angle so it reflects the ground, the floor. And the floor has a kind of “magic light.” That’s what we had in mind. But sometimes we use more classic lights. But we do it in a way that is interesting. We work a lot on the live shows. We’re focused on the live experience.
You’ve built your entire career by singing songs in English. Would you ever consider writing and recording maybe a full album in your native French?
You know, on this album, we use a lot of different languages, so there is some French, obviously a lot of Italian as well as English. But for us, what’s important is to communicate with people so we use whatever language to reach the people that we want to talk to.
For the moment, it’s English, but if there is a change, like a geopolitical change, we are going to embrace it. For us, we sing in English because nowadays it’s the language of international communication. A hundred years ago we would have used Latin. (laughs) So we’re open if times change.
If you had a week or a month off from recording, touring or any of the music stuff, what would you be doing?
I would go to Rome, my favorite city. And once there, I would rent a Vespa, and I would discover all the little streets of Rome. My current passion is going to Rome and just exploring the city.
I was able to meet you guys, when you were here in Manila in 2014. You’re so unlike stereotypical rock stars. I’m curious, have you ever done a “rock star” stunt, like trash a hotel room, or drink and party all night?
Yes, but we really found it to be a very boring and repetitive experience. So we stopped. We see it as a sign of a very conformist mind to do those things, which are, in reality, very boring.
What was your most memorable experience in Manila in 2014?
It’s always memorable when we play in a country where we’ve never played before. So this particular visit, we spent two or three days there. I remember very vividly everything. The food that you eat, I remember going to Manila, going to San Agustin church. We met some very nice people. It’s really the people and the kind of atmosphere, the quality of the life, the color of the grass, that’s what I can remember.
What’s the best thing anybody has ever said about your music?
Actually, two days ago, we met a friend that we haven’t seen in maybe 10 years. His wife was here, she had to fight a strong illness. And he told us that at one point, when he was very depressed, he heard our music on the radio, one of our songs, I think it was “1901,” and somehow, he couldn’t really explain why, but it really helped him to go through that moment in his life that was the hardest. So that’s the kind of thing that makes it all worthwhile, you know? Somehow we work hundreds of hours on a song, and we do not know if it’s really worth it. But when a friend tells you those kinds of stories, suddenly it makes sense. — LA, GMA News
Phoenix is playing live in Manila on Aug. 15, 2017 at the Araneta Center. For tickets, go to www.ticketnet.com
Paul John Caña is a writer and live music geek. Check out his blog manontheotherside.blogspot.com. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana
