#contact!

EIFFEL 65's Interview   (may2001)

1. The second album of E 65, “CONTACT”, is gonna coming out. Could you please anticipate us something about the musical style of this new work?  In which direction have you tried to go?

  M. “Contact!” is an album which combines all the concepts of the last album “Europop” to all the things we’ve learnt in the last 2 years travelling around the world. Mainly the direction is the same : complete melodic songs, dance grooves, 80’s inspirations and electronic sounds,vocoders  and atmospheres.

This time what I can say is that the styles of each single track are more different, so the general sounds is more various than in "Europop".

J: Contact for us is a musical move towards the different musical styles we have always loved. In fact, differently from the first album, there are tracks that recall the House Dance Music style and a greater research towards electronic sounds. There are surely more tracks than the first one, 13 in Europop and 17 in Contact. In a Phrase “Our Small Musical Growth”.

G:Talking about the “style” of the album we tried, as we did with “EUROPOP”, to find a compromise between POP and DANCE…We think in fact that our style could be considered as the result of the  melodic tradition (tipical of the Italian music), mixed with the electronic sounds that we got from  the 80’s (Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk,...).Actually, talking about “dance music”, things are very different then 20 years ago, and the tendence and the sounds are changing very very fast, even from one year to another, and of course they modify a little bit the direction of the works.. .That’s the main reason why, I suppose, you could find some differences in the direction of the new album, especially in the arrangements..

2. There is a theme to this album? Do the songs all relate to something that’s happened in your life?

M: There's not only one theme in this album. The common intention and the important thing for us regarding the lyrics of our songs is always to give a positive message or express a concept in which we trust, that makes the people think about it. Surely that reflects what we learn,think or feel in our private and professional life.

J. Some of the lyrics of our songs are inspired by our personal experiences. In general they reflect our view of the world and how we try to live our lives.  

3. Do you think that your fans will be surprised while listening to the new tra cks?

M: I think so . First of all for the number of the tracks: they are 17. And second because they can find new arrangements, new lirycs, new sounds and also new way to use the voice.

G: I don’t know if they will, Working at the new album we always tried to do something not to disappoint the fans who liked the first..But I think that the worst thing we could have done is an album “clone” of the first… I mean, if I were a fan I wouldn’t be fond of the songs in themselves, but of the artist and  of its style and capacity of making music. After that I think that every artist need some changes in his productions,step by step, because the creation is not a mechanical process, and it’s the result of  many factors around him.

4. When you compare “EUROPOP” and “CONTACT”, how do you thing you’ve grown musically?

M: As I answered before "Contact!" is more complete and more various regarding : number of the tracks selected, number of the people involved on the productions, new and very different styles, sounds and arrangements. About the lyrics I would say that they remark the band’s grouth.

J: I can surely say that there is a greater sound research in sounds and composition. We are introducing a different view to our music and a brighter feeling is what we get from listening to it. Our bet is still up “To be innovative sometimes you have to risk it all”

5. Have you still used the particular sound of “VOCODER” on Jeffrey Jey’s voice?

M: Yes , we did it. And in many new different ways.

J: Sure! And that has followed the evolution too. A new blend to the sounds used to Drive the Vocoder and a Mix of Clean Vox and Vocoder has given some tracks a Different flavour.

G: Yes, the vocoder on the Jeffrey’s voice is one of the things that characterize our style, even if, this time in some songs we tried to use the vocoder in different ways, creating new effects…

6. What musical instruments do you use for realizing your songs?

M: We have a sort of a futuristic studios with only a PC with audio cards , a masterkeyboard to pilot all the sounds and 2 monitors. We are the testimonials and betatesters of Creamware which provides to all the audio cards (Pulsar, Pulsar2 and Scope) , virtual synthesizers , effects and softwares we use.

And also we are the testimonials and betatesters of E-Magic regarding the sequencering software (Notator Logic Audio).

J: Mostly the synths coming out of our computer. It starts out in different ways but a big hand is given to the feeling by the chosen sounds. Very important most of all during the vocal sessions since that this is what inspires the vocal expression.

G: What we use for composing is basically a computer, and all the sounds come from sound cards inside the PC…in fact the technology is helping us very very much, and we try to take the most of this evolution day by day!!

7. Do you think that electronic music can transmit emotions and feelings as music played by real instruments or “orchestra” do?

M: Absolutely ! It doesn't matter what you use to make music , the only important thing is if you like it , if you feel something listen to it, and for us if we have fun making it.

The electronic mucis was born many years ago and is still (and always more) at the top of the charts and appreciated by the people.It wouldn't be so if it was something that the people consider fake or without feelings.

J: sure it can! I find that synths can often create feeling that you would find in a mixture of Classical instruments. Besides that, they are extremely futuristic and Magical.

G: talking about the feeling we get from music and every other art form, it really doesn’t matter how and where it comes from but the only question is: do we like it?

8. In some songs of your first album, “EUROPOP” it seems that there is an influence of Depeche Mode style. Do you confirm it? If so, do you feel near to the ’80 music!!?

M: Yes we do. We consider Depeche Mode one of the best reference bands for who like us has a big passion for the electronic music.

We are 27,27 and 30 years old, that means that we were teen-agers during the 80's.

And that's the best period to discover your musical passions.That's probably the most important reason why we feel really into the 80's melodies and arrangements.

J: Absolutely! We were kids in the 80’s and we’ve grown up listening to Depeche Mode and all the Great bands of the 80’s. We can surely say that, even if not completely, there is a great 80’s music influence.

G: Yes, of course we took inspiration more than once from the 80’s sounds because I think is the music we grew up with, and Depeche Mode are one of our favorite bands of those years.

9. Usually, do you write and compose music together? Do you think there is a real union between the musical trends of Maury, Jeffrey and Gabry?  Or maybe your different backgrounds are the secret to write music which sounds so innovative!?

M: Our personal musical tastes have in common many things but at the same time they are differents.Also our backgrounds. And that helps us a lot, because it makes our sounds various and different comparing to the other productions.

J: We normally write music together and it’s obvious that our different musical backgrounds put a vibe to all the Eiffel 65 work. Maury with his pop and Classical Music background, Gabry with his DJ power for the Tracks and Jeffrey for his Pop and Hip hop style. All in one flavour. Very important to mention is that Eiffel 65 has a great support production team, Bliss Co. A great family and supportive as a mother would be.

10. And what about the typical piano sound of “BLUE”? Have you maintained it in some songs of the new album?

M: The strong presence of the piano in Europop is probably my fault. I started to take classic piano lessons when I was 5 , and for 9 years. So it's normal for me to put it on a song , and often it's my way to compose new melodies. But in "Contact!" we haven't used it so much, just only in a few tracks.

J: Some cases yes but in other tracks we’ve started using it in a different way too.

G: The “typical” piano sound of Blue…as the question already says, was part of the arrangement of the old album, and we choose to find something different for the new songs, but we still have inside the new album a couple of songs like that.

11. We heard there are some house tracks on ”CONTACT!”. Do you think that the atmosphere of house music can be near to the world (musical and not only) of EIFFEL 65?

M: Why not? Everything that refers to the electronic music, that makes you dance and sing at the same time , sounds innovative and that we like could always be part of the Eiffel 65 world .Anyway the new generation of house is based on the electronic sounds and the use of the past musical samples which are things that we like to use too.Daft Punk are teachers of this, and we like the Daft Punk style. It doesn't matter if the results sounds more house or tekno or pop.We like music at 360° !

J: It all depends on how this things blends with the production. It’s true that there are house tracks but they are blended with the Eiffel 65 Style. So at the end of it all it fits in.

G: I don’t think you could really find any pure “House track”, or “Underground track”, or “Tekno track”, or ”Pop track” inside the album “Contact”. But you can surely find an atmosphere that is the result of many influences due to the evolution of the musical tendence of the last years...We let the people find a definition for the music they want to listen to…

12. EIFFEL 65 lyrics talks about people and life, and have also touched arguments and themes of social importance. The contents of “CONTACT” are different? More or less deep?

M: Regarding the lyrics of "Contacts!" I'm very satisfied and proud. And I thank you Jeffrey for this, because he always understand what we're looking for, and he's really able to write and sing in a very good way and always with an original style.  The lyrics of this album touch different themes but always regarding life and people. Sometimes they are more direct, other times more deep but always interesting.

J: More or less the same concept but expanding to other facts of life and mainly about our passion for computers and Technology. The line of truth are the facts of our lives.

G: When we compose a new song we really don’t want to “change the world” with its meaning, we choose an argument and try to give our point of wiew, maybe using metaphors like a “colour” to describe a “lifestyle” ecc… We always try to give positive message to the people, because listening to the music is fun, and the world is already full of negatives thing…

13. Do you really feel “LUCKY”? Tell us something us about the new single!

M: How could I say that we are not lucky after all that happened in the last 2 years? We consider "Lucky" as one of the most shining songs of the new album. And absolultely the best one for the summer release. The strangest thing is that it was born in the last 5 hours before we put down the definitive track list for the album, and we've already had other 31 songs to choose from! There's somebody who says that “the easy comers are the best goers”!. Maybe he's right.

J: When we compose a new song we really don’t want to “change the world” with its meaning, we choose an argument and try to give our point of wiew, maybe using metaphors like a “colour” to describe a “lifestyle” ecc…

We always try to give positive message to the people, because listening to the music is fun, and the world is already full of negatives thing…

G: That’s for sure..We’re lucky because we do what we like to do in our lives, because we have many fans that appreciate our work and this is the biggest satisfaction you could ever have..Talking about the single i will tell you in a few months if it’ll be so lucky too.. We hope so!!

14. Do you still use your “playstation”? What do you think about the way that  young people live today? Do you think that the huge presence of internet, videogames, and all that technology can have a bad or good influences on the new generations?

M: I don't have so much time to use the playstation anymore but I still love it. I think that the young people today for many things are more luckier than we were in the past. There are a lot of interesting things that we didn't see at the same age. One of these is the high technology. Especially regarding internet and videogames. I don't believe that technology could represent a danger or have a bad influence. Not if it's used with intelligence and without excess. I believe that the war has a bad influence , the drugs has a bad influence. Instead of it I believe that Internet is a good way to start to communicate with the rest of the world, and videogames are just one way of having fun and sometimes to stimulate the brain, which is useful and not dangerous.

J: Not at all! We still use Playstation, when we have the time to, and the influence that technology has on the new generations today is showing it’s benefits in many ways. Thanks to internet the world is slowly becoming one big community and the opportunities that musicians has today are 100 times greater than the ones they had 10 years ago. More and easier exposition, More and faster tools. The only things is that you have to remember that a machine can’t be a man.

15. During the last 2 years, you reached the top of the charts all over the world. Do you feel that success changed something in your life style, and in  relations with your friends?

M: The things that have changed in my life are: the people recognize me also far from my neighborhood , my professional satisfaction , I travel a lot and …of course… my bank account.

The friends I have are always the same I had 15 years ago.They are happy for me because they know exactly my past and all the sacrifices I went through to make this dream come true. Our relations are always stronger than before.

J: Honestly very few are the things that have changed thanks to success. Maybe we can say that we have a couple of bucks more than we had before and that it’s a pleasure to give autographs to our fans but in the everyday life it’s all pretty much the same, most of all with our friends and family.

G: How couldn’t have my life changed …When you get such a big succes many things are going to change, it depends on you, taking the advantage of it and keeping intact what is really important for you in your life…like for example your family, friends, health…

This succes surely gave us the opportunity to travel all around the world, to see new places, to meet new people,new cultures, to learn many things from all that, especially for our job as producers..because you never know how things really are , if you don’t see them whit your own eyes, if you don’t feel them with on your own skin..

16. You are gonna have a big tour around the world. Do you miss your home when you are 10.000 km far of it?

M: It's the only bad thing of being famous. Yes I miss my private life , my family ,my home,my friends , my 2 dogs , my cat and also my studio.

J: You bet we do! This is surely one of the so called turn about being famous. The world is one hell of a beautiful place but there’s no place like home!

17. What do you like of being the “idols” of so many fans around the world? And what you don’t like of being so famous?

M: I don't know what it means being an idol because I feel to be the same person than I was before success. That's probably because I've always been a fan of the Music, instead of being a real fan of one artist or a band. I like some artist more than others but I love the songs, the music! It doesn't matter where they come from.

If I should say what I like of being an "idol" for somebody I think I could answer that: it's grateful, it makes me realize that I'm doing a good job and most of all that makes me deeply understand that only the people have the power to make you become a star, nothing else, so I do not have to forget it, ever. We love the fans and we use to spend as much time as we can with them. There's only one thing that I don't like so much of being famous : sometimes you have to spend too much time travelling far from where you live and from the people you love.

But mainly being famous is good and it guarantees you a lot of respect, even if it's only for a short time.

J: The nice thing of being famous, besides the gratification of living thanks to music, is that you have the chance to give an example and with this probably teach something to your fans.

G: That’s amazing… I often keep on seeing those images, when i go to bed, all those people screaming and shouting during the concerts, all those children shaking your hands and asking autographs..it’s a strange situation, sometimes you feel happy,sometimes invincible, but the biggest fear inside you is always a question: “Will I be able not to disappoint them?”…And we have to thanks each one of them for their devotion and for making us what we are..

18. What is the craziest thing a fan has done for you?

M: I remember that one time a girl during a live show was 100% painted of Blue,also the teeth. And there are 2 girls that sometimes come in our studios in Turin from England only to stay 2 hours with us.

J: The craziest thing a fan has done that I can remember is to come all the way over to Turin to bring me a great Doll of me. Boy that was a surprise.

19. Last year you did concerts all over the world including U.S.A., EUROPE and RUSSIA, and you always did live performances. Have you learned something about the  importance of music for people? Do you think that music can be useful for teaching something to the new generations?

M: Absolutely. It has always been so. Music is communication, it can be useful or dangerous as all the communications instruments are. That's why it has to be used in the right way.

We write our lyrics always giving a positive message. And our live show is conceived to be a party where the people communicate and have fun.

J: Concerts for us have been a great way to understand people all over the world and see how people expect you to be and how surprised they can get seeing you on stage (most of all in USA). I can say that Eiffel 65 concerts has been a great way for us to teach people what an Electronic music concert can do and for Eiffel to learn to fit the peoples needs world wide.

20. When you are on stage, do you feel the emotions of people listening? Do you believe in the magic of music?

M: If you don't feel the feelings of the people on stage you have an iceberg instead of a heart.

And if I wouldn't believe in the magic of the music I wouldn't be here to answer your questions because I wouldn't deserve it and I also wouldn't be able to do it.

J: I’m sure that we wouldn’t be where we are today if we didn’t believe in this magic called music. It’s always a different emotion to be on stage and sometimes it’s really hard to be up there!!

21. You will surely remain in the history of music, thanks to the results obtained with your song “BLUE”. In your opinion, what’s amazing in this song? Why this incredible success?

M: Thank you for this compliment, even if it sounds a little bit too exagerated. "Blue" is a combination of many lucky things and a big passion for music. Anyway I think that it's a good pop song into an innovative dance groove; you can sing it as you can dance it. The lyrics talk about a lifestyle, so something that could represent everybody without any prejudice. And the video is original and interesting because it puts us in a virtual world like in a videogame.

But the best thing is that we composed this song only with the intention of having fun, without hunting for a hit, only following our instinct.

J: Wow. I can surely say that the Chorus of Blue is its strong part. The way this chorus has worked it’s way into people’s hearts and minds has made it the hit it is today. There are also other lucky factors that have made this a curious song; for example the title “Blue” has many Different Meaning all around the world, in English it means sad, in Italian it’s a colour, in German it means Drunk and in Russian it means Gay. The video, our look and all the rest have put more flavour to the hit itself.

22. Have you ever done Pop music? Even if your songs sounds like dance-pop, have you ever thought about the possibility of  doing some R & B or Rock songs?

M: I believe that our style is always pop, you can dance to it but there's always a pop song at the top of it. R&B and Rock are based on different things comparing to what is our ordinary world. But the inspiration comes from everything, sometimes also from styles so far from ours. For example during the last tour in the USA, we were used to play in big festivals with artists like BonJovi, Sugar Ray , Lenny Kravits, Destiny's Child and Sisqo.

We've learnt a lot from them, especially from the way of entertaining people during a live show.We don't wanna put a limit to our way of making music, but we have a strong influence from the electronic music we were born with, so we would hardly change it with something else, especially if it's too far from our musical roots.

J: Not yet although some Hip Hop influences have shown up in tracks like “Living in a Bubble” and if we ever will come up with this it will always be mixed with the Eiffel 65 musical concept.

23. Recently, you have received a nomination for the GRAMMY AWARDS 2001, as Best Dance Group. Being There, has been something like realizing a dream, or do you prefere other aspects of your work?

M: Being nominated for the Grammy Awards is one of the best "material" things that could happen to an artist. It's absolutely a dream that becomes true. But it's not what we're working for.In fact we haven't been there because we were too busy composing the songs for the new album. And that's abolutely what I prefer.

J: Making the music itself is surely the best part of it all but the Grammys and the Awards are great to receive but after the music the fans are our smile.

24. Do you still use your “Playstation”? What do you think about the way that  young people live today? Do you think that the huge presence of internet, videogames, and all that technology can have a bad or good influences on the new generations?

M: I don't have so much time to use the playstation anymore but I still love it. I think that the young people today for many things are more luckier than we were in the past. There are a lot of interesting things that we didn't see at the same age. One of these is the high technology. Especially regarding internet and videogames. I don't believe that technology could represent a danger or have a bad influence. Not if it's used with intelligence and without excess. I believe that the war has a bad influence , the drugs has a bad influence. Instead of it I believe that Internet is a good way to start to communicate with the rest of the world, and videogames are just one way of having fun and sometimes to stimulate the brain, which is useful and not dangerous.

J: Not at all! We still use Playstation, when we have the time to, and the influence that technology has on the new generations today is showing it’s benefits in many ways. Thanks to internet the world is slowly becoming one big community and the opportunities that musicians has today are 100 times greater than the ones they had 10 years ago. More and easier exposition, More and faster tools. The only things is that you have to remember that a machine can’t be a man.

25. Have you got some projects for the future? Maybe writing an autobiografy?

M: The first project is always composing music, but I love writing, and why not an autobiography?

It could be possible.

J: Pretty hard to say today, for sure we are not thinking so far ahead, the future is today and every minute you make of it.

26. And if someone proposes you a movie about you??

M: I've never thought about me as an actor, so I could try but without any ambitions , only for having fun and try new sensations. Anyway I think that to tinterpretate yourself is less difficult than interpretate somebody else, at least you don't have to learn anything that you don't know yet. Jokes apart I don't know how I could be interesting as an actor, but I believe that the Eiffel 65 story could be very interesting, and it could be titled: "When a dream becomes true…..!" ..not really original but 100% true.