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We shared part one of the Justice interview Arno conducted earlier this month, below is the second portion of the intriguing interview.

Arno Baudin: Do you think you counterbalance your lack of techniques by strong concepts and ideas?  Do you use “low-tech” consciously?
Xavier de Rosnay: What we do is both extremely “hi-tech” and extremely “low-tech”. For example, in our studio we use a mix of instruments that cost $90 which have very particular functions and other instruments that cost ten times that price for other functions. I don’t think there is any use to do “low-tech” for the sake of it. Is that to say that it was “made with nothing” because it was “low-tech”? There are good things in both I guess.

AB: What do you mean when you say: making basic music to provoke basic emotions? A sort of pop Warhol vision?     At first sight simple but requiring lots of work by the artist to look this effortless. A pop with many layers of meaning?
XdR: As for music, design or movies, you have to bring lots of energy to get something that looks effortless. Sometimes it takes months, even years to get something highly basic, even if it is a complex long-term process. When I see people on stage, when I listen to music, or see a painting, I don’t want to think about how hard it was to create.
I want to believe that it was an instinctive, fast, and easy process. It’s almost like a transformation from an idea into a medium. Talking about pop, I can’t really say anything, as I don’t really listen to this. I feel it is a bit patronizing to say that you make multidimensional music. It is as if you are talking to part of an audience which is stupid and doesn’t understand what you are doing, while the other “educated” people understand what you mean to say and do perfectly. I believe in art with different layers of meaning. By your experiences of life, your references, your gender, your background, you will get something different out of it than someone else. So yes, that’s something that comes naturally. The difference between “multiple layers of meaning pop” and “single-meaning pop,” is that it’s all about the craft. Rihanna’s music, for example, doesn’t go further because it’s basically not good. While the Beach Boys make music that can be understood in so many different ways all at the same time, it is highly sophisticated and really sensitive. It appeals to a broad segment of the audience and it’s just great! I’m not sure, though, that Brian Wilson thought mindless people have to get my music, but he made it more sophisticated to suit the people that are in the know-how. It is less complicated than that, good pop music can always be read in different ways and it is dedicated to everyone, it’s universal. In fact, what makes it universal isn’t that only fools like it, but that everyone likes it! This is how bad pop differs from good pop.

AB: Did you have a clear vision for Justice’s project, or things just converge in an organic way?
XdR: It’s quite difficult to define what comes spontaneously and what’s planned. Still it’s a balance of both. We have a clear vision of what we want from the start, but we are always open minded. There is no dogma in our creative process. Well, of course it’s good to start from a concept, but the risk is of missing the “pure emotional” side results in producing boring music. Sometimes, it’s just better to put concepts and dogmas away and focus on what is good for the project.

©Karl Hab

AB: How do you deal with the huge contrast between the long period of time you spend in the studio and the time you spend on tour. The idea of autarky opposed to crowds?
XdR: It comes naturally which is great! Being on a break for three years, including a year and a half in the studio, gave us the will to go back on stage. During those three years we had time to think what we really wanted to do and what we didn’t. Now, a year and a half later, being on tour makes us want to go back in the studio. They feed off each other and it would be harder to lead both the studio life and the tour life at the same time. We are lucky to do both in parallel and not have the obligation of working on the road while on tour to produce a record a year. So we always want to do both. For instance, now, we are eager to get back in the studio: being on stage gives us plenty of ideas.

AB: With Romain Gavras on your last tour, did another director film you on this one?
XdR: No, the documentary we made had to be a one shot. It would be really difficult to do something that funny… well actually, we still find really funny moments, we just don’t feel like doing it again.

AB: Will you end your tour in the USA?
XdR: We wanted to end this tour with something fun. USA, Canada, Mexico, well North America basically, it’s quite unique. It’s really different than Europe. There are such different situations, states, cities, climates, environments, people, and cultures. Being on tour in North America is like doing a world tour in three weeks. We wanted this: it’s a beautiful way to finish a tour.

Album Cover