Scorn by critics, acclaim
by "The Big Blue" generation who has bought three (3) millions copies of his
original score album, Eric Serra, known
as the composer of Luc Besson's movies, talked about the forthcoming movie "The Fifth
Element" and his come back to rock music in fall.
It's around 4PM at Sunset Plaza on Sunset Boulevard, a place with many hot restaurants a
little bit above Los Angeles. "Clafoutis", "Le Petit Four", "Chin
Chin", cafés are under the sun and full of young businessmen and young actors taking
advantage of the young, beautiful and charming creatures full of silicon and in sexy
clothes in the wind. Eric Serra couldn't never arrives. But now, I see him in his black
convertible car, with dark glasses, he greets me. The original score album from "The
Fifth Element", the last Luc Besson's film, was recorded in Paris, with some
symphonic takes at Abbey Road Studios, it mixed and edited in the city of Angels. This is
a mega sci-fi production with a ninety (90) millions dollars budget. Bruce Willis, Gary
Oldman and Mathieu Kassovitz are supposed to star in this movie who will open the next
Film Festival of Cannes. With his white shirt, Eric Serra comes to my table and orders
some raw vegetables and a glass of Sancerre to the waitress-actress, a beautiful and very
sexy babe.
It was impossible for me to see the movie, images stay secret 'til the Cannes Festival.
Serra doesn't want to give me some clues about the story. Eric Serra is born on September
9th, 1959 at Saint-Mandé in France. His father was a songwriter ("My father wrote
his name Claude Cerat because double initials were hot") who became inventor of the
French flash style ("Humourous songs very short, during a couple of seconds
only"). His mother didn't work, she stayed at home. They moved to the South of the
France. "At home, daddy listened some great music: classic, rhythm 'n' blues, Jacques
Brel. He also played guitar. He gaves me my first acoustic guitar for my fifth birthday
and an electric one for my eleventh." In 1970, the young Eric lived only for the
rock, he listened note by note guitar solos like the one in "Sympathy For The
Devil", the "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" version, some standards from Ritchie
Blackmore and Alvin Lee. Eric was also Led Zeppelin fan: "It was strange, Led Zep was
the only band that I didn't listened to reproduce theirs guitar solos. I was a super-fan
but I didn't want to do like Jimmy Page, I don't know why." Jazz rock with Jeff Beck
and John McLaughlin interested him too. "Super school, explain Eric with a noisy
voice of a police squad chassing gangsta-rapper gangs. Around fifteen years old, I became
to play with band, it was very cool to play lead guitar. We didn't like singers at this
time, we didn't see interest about a singer. In fact, I sing for the first time on
"The Big Blue" soundtrack by chance. I had recorded some demos for an american
singer who lived in Paris, but Besson, Corine de Téléphone and all my friends who had
listened the both version prefered mine, I was not a professional singer but there had
more feelings in my version. That's how I started to sing, it was exciting. I needed ten
(10) years after that to finally record my own album."
So, it was not a childhood dream?
"Yes, but in fact, I have did a lot of work in studios since sixteen (16) years old
but I didn't see me as professional musician because it was not considered as a real job,
then for me it didn't exist. I didn't make the relation between musician and people who
recorded albums. So, I went to university and became a sound engineer, it was the only
interesting job on my list. But since sixteen (16) years old, I became to make some money
playing music."
Aliens
How did you meet Luc Besson for the first time?
"He was in studio with my friend Pierre Jolivet when he asked me to come re-record
all guitar solos for the album nearly finish. Besson was eighteen (18) like me, he was
very impressed by me, but in fact, all my life I've improvised when playing guitar. When
Besson did his first film some months later, he asked to me to composed the music."
After, come "The Last Battle", "Subway", "The Big
Blue"...
"Yes, but in same time, I was playing bass for Higelin from 1981 to 1988, from Cirque
d'Hiver to Bercy. I've composed and wrote for him "Coup de lune", "Manque
de classe", "Victoria", etc. After, and for ten (10) years I've didn't play
on a show. I didn't understand myself, I was depressive and I was saying to me: "You
have all that a musician can dreams about: "The Big Blue" has sell three (3)
millions of copies, you have a lot of money to do what you want, your own studio to record
in
the middle of the night if you want..." But you know, I am only happy when I'm on
tour, when I play music every night. I became to play on a stage at eleven (11) years old,
when I stopped to work hard with Higelin, it was like stopped to make love. That's why
come back on stage is my priority. When I won't wish to do that, I will continue to
composed music for movie somewhere where is quiet."
But, did the success of "The Big Blue" make you and Besson crazy?
"We had a lot of fun at this time, we didn't think that "The Big Blue"
could become a success like that. This success didn't change our way to work. Of course,
we constantly learn something new each time we do another soundtrack. We have more
experience when we become older, we have more culture and we have more things inside us
who are reflected in music, symphonic, ethnic, groove... I listen classic music just since
ten (10) years ago, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok, and only three (3) soundtrack
include symphonic music: "Atlantis", "The Professional" and
"GoldenEye". I'm a self-taught person, I take some risks and by years, my
technique has progress. I began to know what sounds good and what doesn't. Percussions, by
example, I play them myself 'cause I want them groove like pop, and I like mix ethnic
rhythms and symphonic orchestra. I like use anything who make some noise, a violin, a
trashcan, a chinese flute. I think I compose real music now. We can mix anything in music,
all that we need it's have some taste and hear what we want. Music must have a relation
with a feeling, a desire, we cannot composed just to be interesting. Success or not, it
doesn't care for me. "GoldenEye" is the first hollywoodian thing that I have
accepted. Before, someone had suggested to me to compose the music for "Piège en
haute mer", "Chute libre" with Michael Douglas, and "Heat". I
didn't refuse but I was already busy with the James Bond movie. It was very cool to do the
music for James Bond, when I was a child I liked James Bond a lot."
Babylon
How to describe "The Fifth Element"?
"It takes place in year 2300. There have humans, aliens, and starships... What can I
say? It's really cool. In two hours, there have around one hour fourty-five minutes of
music, and for the end credits there have a song from my forthcoming solo album..."
What kind of music is on your solo album?
"It's hard to say, I don't know what I can tell you. It's rock, but good, it doesn't
mean anything. It's not like the Stray Cats or Sting, maybe it's like Peter Gabriel, there
have some classic and north african influences, I have co-produce this album with Rupert
Hine. It's love songs - what else can I talk about? Love of a woman, love of life, love of
beauty... Next year, I will touring. I have a great band with me: two drummers, a
percussionist, a keyboardist... I play guitar or bass, it
depends which song. I started to read a lot of literature to help me with lyrics. I didn't
read since three (3) years ago, now I have read "L'alchimiste", "Les lettre
de Vincent Van Gogh à Théo", Barjavel and the complete work of Prévert."
Techno music?
"I listen techno but also rap on radio. That's clear, techno isn't a little
phenomena. My favorite techno band is Massive Attack, they're opening the way to a new
music style. I love Radiohead. I also hate the guys from Oasis and their attitude, they
don't bring something new to music, but sometimes they write a few good songs."
How do you feel living in Paris when you have lived in Los Angeles for five (5)
years?
"Now, since two months I wake up every morning in the sun with a irresistible desire
to work. In Paris, you wake up and it's raining outside, you have only one desire, come
back in your bed. Paris become more sad with time, people are depressive. It takes all my
energy, life in grey inside and outside people. I wanna quit Paris again."
For any politic reasons?
"Politic reasons don't influence my desire to quit... In fact, I want to be in a
place where it's sunny, on a beach... Here, I have a lot of mexican, canadian and europian
friends and a few american friends, it's like Babylon... It's pity 'cause I really like
life."
Bodyguards
What are the dreams for you, having a lot of money? Piloting an airplane?
"It's funny, how do you know that? Yeah, in fact, I have already take some piloting
courses. It's a real childhood's dream. The life is short, we must realize our
dreams..."
Mystic?
"Yeah. I was in a kind of religious group fifteen (15) years ago, but I won't tell
you which one, I learn somethings, a kind of new thinking. But there had also some dark
sides in this group, that's why I finally decided to quit."
Tell me how describe Eric Serra in few words...
"Oh, I don't know, I'm not dead yet... Huh, now I know... respect of music. I'm very
meticulous and consciencous. There have nothing that I respect the most then music. My
success is not a coincidence. Besson works hard too, it's not only talent but there have a
lot of work behind his success. I want to be assimilate as a hard worker. After I've
watched the movie "Amadeus", I was not able to compose any music. Mozart is
permanent grace. I remember when I went out from the theatre, I was with some friends, it
was not possible to me to pronounce any words, I was crying a lot. That was the only time
that a movie influences me like that. Since ten (10) years, I'm working eighteen (18)
hours every day, I like to work to make money. My mother is death when I was seven (7)
years old, I have live all my life with two friends and a guitar as my only confident,
that's why the music is the thing I most respect in this world. I can't believe what
happen to me when I'm in a studio like Record Plant with Michael Jackson and his eleven
(11) bodyguards, Madonna and Ringo Starr. It's scaring me that all the world wants to work
with me. I didn't see how it happened. For me, I'm always this ten (10) years old boy who
plays the guitar alone in his bedroom."
Transcripted and translated from French to English by Dominic Verzon Villeneuve. |