French duo Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge are who they say they are. They are not Daft Punk, they are not electronic music, they are not the “new French wave.” They are the “kings of useless remixes,” they love pop music, and they only collaborate with artists to see their names on the albums of people they like.The duo’s self-professed background is in mainstream pop, but they love Metaliica (“et Justice pour tous”) and Snoop and a lot of disco. “Always we like accessible stuff. I never listen to Gang of Four and uh, Joy Division or stuff like this. As kids of the 90’s, we liked really normal things” says de Rosnay. He does contend, however, that “at the end, what we do doesn’t really sound like what we used to listen to.” Their pop background does help them create what people will enjoy, “because we are simple music listeners, it helps us to make music that can speak to a larger audience.” The idea for their album title, the cross symbol, came when they saw Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album, and liked the simplicity of the prism on the cover. Religion does play an important role for them, however, with tracks like “Let There Be Light” and “Waters of Nazareth”. “We just noticed that religion and music has a link because they are two things that are able to get people together. When we were about to make our second single, we said okay, let’s make a track that can turn a club into a church for two minutes.” They are talking about Water of Nazareth, where organ music comes in about halfway through the track. “We don’t use [the cross] in a provocative way.” Who is the next big thing? Fresh talent? Their former and current tour mates Spanish Midnight Juggernauts and French rock band Fancy are two notables, as well as Scenario Rock, another French band, who they have previously collaborated with on their track DVNO. But tonight, de Rosnay was excited about their Oxford show simply because his brother and sister-in-law were in the audience.
by Pamela Takefman
Justice interview
