[interview] Laurent Graziani – Winner 2013 of the Audi Talents Awards – Music-to-Picture

On June 5, 2013, at the Plaza Athénée in Paris, Laurent Graziani was the winner of the Audi Talent Awards. A 42-year-old, musician, sound engineer and technician of the show, a member of the group Lunatic Age and Frankie IV Fingers is the winner 2013 of the category of “Music to picture”. We came to meet her a few days after his victory. With us, it is incumbent on this adventure.

 

Is it that the Audi Talents Awards is the first contest in which you participate ?

I had already submitted a nomination last year but I have not been selected, so this is the second year that I present. Apart from that, I’ve never done a contest.

So you are a musician in two groups, that is what you want to do the “Music for picture” ?

I introduced myself last year on the advice of a friend, Pascal Lengagne (winner 2011). We used to play our respective work. One evening, we had a concert and he came to see us. After the concert, he told me that I should enter this contest. When I got home, it was late so I looked on the internet quickly made this that was this contest. It was a week before the deadline so I made it a bit hard and so it was not terrible. This is the first time that I was doing Music to picture and I am really amused to do so. And this year, I told myself that it was a shame not to spend a little bit more time. So I’ve taken to time to have more comfort working. I have not taken advantage of all because I’ve done it super fast, in spite of all, I was more at peace to know long in advance.

To make the Music for the picture, you’ve followed a special training after ?

No no, it happened like this, last year when I presented myself at the contest. I make music by computer-assisted (MAO) for the past 15 years and on the main sequencer machine that I use to record, I had never tried the video function so I used it the first time last year to participate in the contest. For me, this is all new, I had never done such a thing before ! I really thought it was fun. It is interesting, captivating, you also want to spend your life so it is good to do.

How does the Music to the image ?

Being totally novice in the matter, I would say that it is a little pretentious to give advice or procedures because I don’t really. I simply make music, like I did when I composed for my group or for myself except that here, it is necessary to paste the image, then necessarily there are technical constraints at the outset. Me, I do it almost always in the same way, I look at the video several dozens of times. I do this until there is an idea that vienna, a wire conductor. As soon as the idea arrives, it must be full of odds and ends technical, careful, it’s super interesting (Laughter.). We put markers on the images are “strong” that you want to synchronize, detect the tempo to know if it corresponds to the sequence of images. These two things, the markers and the tempo is the thing that takes the most time. From the moment the artistic idea is there, you have to develop, but all of these technical constraints of rhythm and timing to the image, it takes a lot of time at the beginning of the project.

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What instruments do you play ?

Basically, I’m a guitarist, I also play the bass and drums; it is almost everything. For the composition, I mainly use the guitar and the bass, the rest is done by computer.

What are your musical references ?

I listen to mainly rock, anglo-saxon, after it goes from the most brutal to the most soft. For the soundscape, it’s still the composition and in the composition, or I can bump for me, or for other groups that are not necessarily rock or metal. Therefore make arrangements on music of various styles, this is something that I usually do. I even composed and arranged an album of music for children, that is to say. Call this is a trick that I usually do, the novelty is to do with the image, of course.

How it happened in the course of the contest Audi Talents Awards ?

I registered the same day as the next day of the start of the registration, that is to say, two months prior to the closing. I was notified on Facebook I believe. And so, I’ve done very quickly to avoid leaving hanging out. I’ve dialed in on the two clips for three days and three nights in a row sleeping a little in the morning. After I left it in the pc for a week for me to rest the eyes and the ears. A week later, I then listened to it again my own compositions and I have shared it with a handful of friends who have good ears to have their opinion. I synthesized their views, do a few touch ups and I sent it to the contest. Then you wait, you wonder when is it going to answer you, you are concerned. After this is a succession of small mails, first of all you have been pre-selected so already you’re happy and you find yourself in the last five finalists, there is a little party. And when you go to Paris it is no more the party, the stress you invade, you find yourself with lots of people you don’t know. I’m pretty reserved, so I was in my corner, I didn’t know what to do or what to say, and it lasts a long time. The interview itself, it was rather relaxed, the jurors do everything they can to try to de-stress the candidates and they arrived, in any case, for me. After the interview it is pretty darn frustrating because you have that 10 min and it will seem 3. It is very succinct, I thought I would have a lot of artistic issues and techniques relating to the two clips and not the whole. It was questions a lot more general practitioners of the genre : “what is this that thou hast done?”, “what is it you’d like to do ?”. A juror bounces up and down on an answer, you pose another question, it was a little over the water. It puts you at ease, but it is frustrating because it is too short. Before you say to yourself, “I would tell them this, this and this” and in the end I’ve said nothing at all. It is a day super challenging, which becomes a great day when it ends well. I was very embarrassed for all the other candidates, who were to be disappointed. There’s a winner and the other lose, it is like that. After the day ends very well, you drink champagne and you are happy.

What is it that you retiendras the most of this day ?

The fact that you earn it is significant, of course. But luckily they made a video, can you give an account of what happened. Because honestly when you’re inside, you’re so focused that you don’t understand too. You have no hindsight on it. You expect that it is going what you’ve always hoped for, knowing that it would certainly not and in the end it happens. So on the moment, you have a lot of trouble to make and to think about all of this. Then is the time to remember, it really is in touch with the members of the jury in a first time. The team of the Audi Talents Awards since after I was able to chat a bit with them, it was also reassuring to know that I would have to do. Even if it is ten small minutes were quite frustrating, it was very intense because you find yourself in front of the people you have seen either at the cinema or on the television and there they are in front of you, and you realize that it is super nice, laughing, the atmosphere was almost warm. In addition, after the award ceremony there is an opportunity to discuss three or four minutes with each member of the jury and it is even more interesting because we are able to deepen what we had discussed during the interview which was very short. The contact was rewarding. After someone pointed out to me that it was quite difficult to talk about this contest because usually when you earn it is finished and then you earn the right to start. For the moment I won a thing but I don’t know what, it starts now and it will last a year. It is this that is troubling enough with this contest.

Among the members of the jury there was Guillaume Roussel, who has composed the original soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean. Is it that you knew him ?

I knew of them by name, by browsing the sites of his for example. I’ve heard of him for what he had done, after musically I have a lot of trouble to put music on Guillaume Roussel.

And you talked about the reward for this contest, what is this victory going to make a difference ?

In the details I don’t know yet. In big lines, there are ninety minutes of music to compose in the year. Then these four-twenty-ten-minutes need to be cut into several pieces for, I think, dress videos, internal to the brand on the internet. A large part of the soundscape I guess. After what I know it is all thanks to my friend Pascal, who won two years ago and who told me in detail what had happened to him. So I do assume it happens to me the same thing. And in those ninety minutes, in principle, there are two pubs to the television. It is very interesting to work on an hour and a half of music on the year because it already does a lot. After I have no idea for the moment constraints and artistic techniques. Then the two tv ads, it is very interesting because you are much more exposed, it is seen by the general public. Now it is nothing more than to make good music for the buzzer a bit.

This is all we can wish. Now at the level of your current personal, on other projects, perhaps with your groups, you can tell us about ?

It is always the same, the head in the handlebar for the two groups ! It released a fifth album for Lunatic Age and the second album for Frankie IV Fingers so we start the recordings on the 30th of June for F. IV.F and we hope to get out for back to school. For Lunatic Age is something else, I’m on it for almost four years. It is more special, a large part of the work is done and on the computer but I’m still working on it. It sends a few pieces on the web but it is still a little long.

Is it that you have a site or a page to follow you, and you and your groups ?

Then you can find us on Band Camp (lunaticage.bandcamp.com) (franckie4fingers.bandcamp.com). There are just about our entire discography. And if not, Facebook remains the most simple for us to follow (facebook.com/Lunatic-Age)/ (facebook.com/Franky4Dedos)

And you concerts, festivals planned ?

Festivals yeah, concerts also. With Lunatic Age it is focused on the studio one has no dates, but with Frankie IV Fingers it has turned a bit this year and the last few concerts we play the songs that we released on the new album for the kinks of the public. With Frankie IV Fingers, we play on July 13 in Roujan (34) the Black Cat and the 30th of August this is a festival which is called the Fescoubille Rock Festival, and it is in Saint Geniès(34). (festcoubille-festival.weebly.com)