The
following is an interview I did with Florian
Perret. I actually didn't know him very well prior to asking him to design
the Everybody T-shirt.
I had first seen his work in a gallery
show that Momus
had here in NYC last year. It was a projection of a moving digital forest.
If you stood in front of it facing towards the imagery, you almost felt like
you were going through it as it was coming to you. And then I kept seeing
his work on Momus and his label's
releases. Then recently, I'd come in contact with him (via email) because
of a Momus related project. They needed someone who knew Flash to complete
the animation which was a piece
for MOCA. Anyway, I think it was a very fortunate thing for me to be able
to work with someone as talented as him, so I asked him to do a T-shirt
design for me. And so, I had an excuse to find out more about him via this
interview. You can tell just by reading his answers that he is a very enthusiastic
and interesting person. I will be meeting him in person in a couple of weeks(!)
and I am so looking forward to it. Read on and check out the links he was
kind enough to include himself (pictures also provided by FP) (P.S. I did
correct some grammatical errors from the answers he sent me, but I tried to
keep his charming and creative use of English.)
-You seem to have many different styles and also
work in various different media. Could you describe all the different things
you do?
It's true, and maybe my style is to don't have style...each work i begin
i don't have a clear idea of how it will look like, it's more much intentions
and feeling I want to give, and I always try to make something fresh like
fresh vegetables. After, I forget all the production process & it s
like if somebody else have made it. strange.
-On one hand you do very professional and highly
produced commercial work and on
the other hand you do work that seems much less technically oriented like
the pen drawings you do. How do you differentiate between these approaches?
Yes I began to draw with computer at the age of 9, and since then
I never quit my computers... I started to learn 3D Animation 8 years ago,
I was always thinking that I'm bad with pens or real wood tools, but now
I feel that I need to make things that I can touch with my hand, completely
without computer.This two approaches are different
for me. When I work on a computer, for 3D or anything, I feel very speedy,
I work fast and like to drink coffees. I have
the "control+Z" keys always close to me to feel reassured. Recently
I decided to work with feather and drawing ink, this approach was different,
I was sitting on the grass in the country side and I worked slowly and late
in the night, like a monk studying. When I was a bit nervous I easily accepted
a glass of white wine to relax. Both approaches
are complementary; I like to switch between..I would like to continue to
use different techniques in my future works.
- You obviosuly
seem to like Japanese pop culture. What do you like about it and
could you give examples of things you like?
I was thinking with friends why are we so attracted by Japanese pop culture.
(Several of my friends have a Japanese lovers, listen Japanese music , eat
Japanese
udons). I don t know why exactly, but I presume that I have been influenced
by some mysterious presents I received at home. Also I love Japanese animation,
videogames and music so much.(bubble
bobble! fantasy
zone!!, alexkidd!!!)
Now I really like some bands from Japan, new things or oldies . I m a big
fan of YMO
and their solo works. Japanese graphic and all the characters fascinate
me, sometimes too much everywhere but it s fun. There is a good energy in
Tokyo; I found courage and inspirations there. I like the sense of humor
of Japanese. Hum & not all TV comedians.
-I understand you lived in Japan for a
period. What did you like/dislike about
living there?
When I arrive in Japan to live for a while it was the first time for me
in this country , I was so enthusiastic like a young crazy dog, that I've
only seen the good sides of Japan! For three months I lived at a friend's
family house near Tokyo. Very close to studio
Ghiblis, the first thing I did is to go there with my oba-chan
(middle aged lady) style bicycle to have
an interview with them. I met them several times but my Japanese was too
bad and I started a Japanese
language school. With my few Japanese language abilities, I found a
job in an anime company. It was very interesting, people were so nice with
me. I quickly understood how Japanese people work hard! 4 days a week I
found my boss and his team sleeping under their desk among instant cup noodle
with their computer rendering giants robots. Salary men also seems to be
very serious and often workaholic. It seems to be very difficult for them
to relax. I discovered also the Kogyaru! My girlfriend was very angry because
I always wanted to have a look on Kogyaru magazines like EGG
in the convenience stores. They were a big center of interest for me!, but
a few weeks later I get tired of them and also angry! Like an old conservative.
It was a great pleasure for me to go to convenience store, to buy my daily
milky
melon pain, kagome vegetable juice and ride my bicycle in Tokyo streets
to reach my company in Nishi Shinjuku when autumn arrives. Oh yes I loved
the concert by Buffalo
Daughter in Nagoya, they're so cool as delicious milky
melon pan.
-Do you find a lot of similarities
between France and Japan?
There is a strong attraction between France and Japan, I cannot talk
about similarities, but we're interested by the difference of culture
of each other (is it similarity?)? In Tokyo, I found a lot of French sample
well chosen. These two countries are open to each other. It s a long love
story. There is always funny mistakes on French things in Japan, like
some strange croissant or drink wine in a water glass. Also on French
writing, but somebody told me it s intentionally mistaken to be more
kawai(cute)!
-How did you come to know Nick (Momus)?
Oui Nick!
I had sent him an email to say stupid and uninteresting things because
I was a big fan. One day I had to go to New York for a job and we went
together in a restaurant in Chinatown. I was very impressed by his goofy
groovy style! after this meeting and back in France, I told him I would
like to participate at his NY exposition Folktronia and we began a collaboration.
He and his music are very inspiring to me. I m glad to know him a bit.
-Do you have a lot of musician friends? Could
you tell me of some interesting musicians we might not know in the U.S.?
You certainly know Toog?
He's one of my friends and favourite musician. When I visit him at his
apt, I cannot escape to laugh when I'm climbing down the stairs to come
back home. TOOG=COOL. He's like magic mushroom, if you stay with him a
while you will enter in his absurd world! We went to see Muthu the
dancing Maharaja all over the night. There is also Kumi, she things
with Toog, children songs. Her band is crazy curl. she's the most active
girl I know, always making new projects, new collaborations. Toog is to
lazy sometimes when they repeat together. Microbe
records is an interesting French label, they produce bands and dejay
like Mr Neveux, Fabio or Ben symphonic Orchestra and also original soundtrack
for cinema. (the last 2 movies of Patrice Chereau). Fabio's last album
is in English and Italian, a special strange
and lovely
atmosphere like in his illustration book, everything he does, he do it
very well.
-Do you make music yourself? if so,
what is it like?
No, not seriously. I was playing in my childhood, but it was at the
same time slot of my favourite TV show and I decided to quit. I've kept
my violin. It 's my grand father's. 3 years ago I bought a Korg MS10 and
played on it for a while, I mixed it with sounds of the Gameboy camera's
mini sequencer, melodica, children and psychedelic vinyl; nobody
has ever listened to it. I sold everything to buy my eki-bentos.
-What have you been listening to lately?
I discover the Pancakes,
a talented chinese girl from Hong Kong. She's sent some cds to gilles
(Toog) because he's one of her favourite
singers. (how lucky he is...) I found her email on the CD booklet and
discretely wrote it on my notepad. After a few e-mails she sent me her
CD's and t-shirts, I'm now a great fan you should listen to her too! I'm
currently working on a movie for one of her songs, with my friend Gregoire
Chauviere.
-how would you describe your films/animations?
I could not describe my animation yet. maybe one day if I am completely
happy about one. Now I m making one more deeply absurd for the pancakes
track called Nonsense poetry.
-do you have aspirations of making feature
length films with actors and stuff?
Yes I have scenario ideas on my notepads. I often want to put fake
characters to play with real actors in these stories. It s raw now, it
needs to be cooked.
-If you could work with anybody dead or alive
on a collaboration, who would it be and what would the collboration be?
I like the Residents
shows! Let's work with them. It must be interesting to work on live
shows, with costumes and everything.
-What kind of work do you see yourself making in
let's say 2-3 years?
I would like to continue to make more personal films and to live in another
country again in Asia. What do you think of Okinawa?
(I've never been there myself and never really thought
about going there, but after seeing the movie All
About Lily Chou-Chou in which a part of it takes place in Okinawa, I
have become more interested in it)
-Is there something you haven't done,
but would like to?
Take time to travel with a bicycle in the mountains. (me
too!)
-The stereotype of the French (at least in the
U.S.) is that they are very unfriendly to outsiders especially to tourists.
What is your view on that?
NO! it s a stereotype, sometimes you could find a grumbling French &
like a grumbling American or a grumbling Indian. Maybe we're more teasing
people. Yep. Everybody says that our taxi drivers are not kind. for my experience
all taxis I took they were kind. but last week I had a bad experience with
one, he was so depressed and angry I was afraid he would drop his car in
the Seine River with me inside. But I tried to be more super-friendly than
ever and at the end, I got a smile from him.
-Are there countries besides Japan that you like?
if so, why?
I'm attracted by China. I hope I'll visit Beijing with my Chinese friend
Chen Fang and Vai Lin soon. I would like to go to Vietnam too and return
to Japan to go to Okinawa. In fact, I want a house in all those countries!
With Toog, we have a project to go to Togo by car, it's long way but
my father did that when he was 20, I'm sure he'll give us good advices.