80 copies went out to the
JMJ fan community.

Photo By Thomas Alsina:
"Jarre gives the thumbs up!"

INTRODUCTIONS:

JMJ: What is this?

MIRAI: My group that was inspired by you...

JMJ: Ah great, absolutely...

I was going to tell you this, I know your work and about all your remixes

and what you done- its pretty great, I mean I really enjoyed it. I got your

CD and played your mixes...I mean I really enjoyed it very much...

(Mirai shows JMJ the Unofficial Oxygene remix cd)

MIRAI: Here's the unofficial one! (nervous laugh) :))

JMJ: (laughs) Ah yes! that's really great!

---------

MIRAI: Just before I start the interview, I'd like to tell you a bit about

what I do here in japan.

JMJ: okay

MIRAI: I have an independent electronic music label in Tokyo...

JMJ: Where are you coming from?

MIRAI: I'm from London, I moved here 4 years ago

JMJ: 4 years?

MIRAI: Yeah, I wasn't getting anywhere in England, so I though I would come

here to promote this kind of stuff

and the Japanese would be open to this kind of technology...

JMJ: That's a great t-shirt you have (points to alien shirt) where did you

find this?

MIRAI:(laughs) in London

JMJ: Ah,I thought it was in Japan...

MIRAI: Oh, you can buy them in Japan, I can show you where you can find

these...

JMJ: You have a kind of techno shop here?

MIRAI: Yeah, there are about 4 or 5 of them...

JMJ: That's very interesting...I'll have to write this down...

MIRAI: (continues) I also have the only electronic music radio show

here...and I was part of a kind of revolution (?) on the internet about your

list- a new one was formed and that's now the main JMJ mailing list...

the forum for all fans about you...

JMJ: (smiles) Great. I mean I really appreciate this,

because a lot of things happened last year with the internet about people

wanting to close some 200 sites. A lot of people were...I mean you were not

concerned by this, and a lot of your friends were also not concerned...but

people were just pirating and doing illegal copies,and various publishing

societies try to close down some of these sites;

they were doing business, not clubs.

MIRAI: Do you know RAS in Denmark?

JMJ: Oh yes..

MIRAI: And Abdi? your favourite fan...

yeah, they're part of this group aswell...

JMJ: Oh yes, absolutely. yeah,yeah... That's great.

MIRAI: I am signed to Champagne Lake records... Mark shreeve & Andy

pickford...do you know them?

JMJ: Yes.

MIRAI: I was only signed recently though but I have to say that everything

I have done so far has been inspired by you... :)))

JMJ: That's a great honour. Thankyou. I really appreciate it.

And it's good for me to meet you because I heard about you for quite a

while...

MIRAI: And I have never had the chance to find or meet you, but at last you

came to my territory...

JMJ: That's right, yes, at last! (grins)...

------------------------------------------------

*INTERVIEW START*

------------------------------------------------

MIRAI: Odyssey through O2...

JMJ: Yes, I will show you as I have it here, maybe you already know it...

MIRAI: Yeah, I was using it last week- one of our tracks is going on the

X<>track cd...

JMJ: Yes,that's right, I know that.

I'm here actually in Japan to promote this song I've done with Tetsuya

Komuro called 'Together Now' and actually it's at no:1 in Japan today

so I am very happy..

MIRAI:(surprised) It's number one!?!

[Ed's note: Jean-Michel was mis-informed]

JMJ: Yes! So that's good news and 'Together now' is going to be the bonus

track of the release of Oxygene7-13 in a special package in Japan.

MIRAI: Just Japan?

JMJ: Yes, its going to be called oxygene 7-13 +1.

This is the concept of the album, with a different cover and with the full

version of Together Now as a bonus track. So this is actually what is

going to be released now and Odyssey is going to be postponed

a little bit in Japan because of Together Now and Oxygene 7-13+1.

Odyssey is going to be released in about 2 months in July, in Europe

mid-May.

MIRAI: Have you met Takkyu Ishino?

JMJ: Not yet. We have been talking on the phone but I am going to meet him

later this week. Have you met him?

MIRAI: Ah yes, he's a little guy with a big grin- can't miss him!

JMJ: He is really good at what he does- he is more into pure techno.

MIRAI: Yes, he is a brilliant engineer, very good at production.

JMJ: Yeah, his sound- I was really amazed by what he is doing. I saw a

Playstation game he has been involved with- with a band of his.

MIRAI: Yes, Denki Rroove. [electric groove]

Is this the Jarkaos here?

JMJ: Yes, let me show you what it is.............

---------------------------------------------------------------

....This whole idea came with the fact that I wanted for quite a while to

develop, first of all, a CD that could be sold at the price of a regular CD

but integrating an interactive part, which would be different from a CDROM

or CD Extra.

Because most of the CROMs are made in a preorganised world, where you are

going into something that is predetermined and you can't escape.

You have the choice between 0 & 1, yes & no, black & white-

so it is great for information & education but not really for creativity.

Because when you want to create something it is your intuition or

imagination that works, not saying 0 & 1, yes & no, left & right and so on.

I wanted to give the opportunity to the audience to re-act via the music

in a total intuitive way- even if you are not familar with keyboards or

computers. And giving the chance to the people to play using the computer

keyboard, not the mouse, in a very creative way for images or animations

linked to the music you are listening to.

So it is a really interactive process starting with the idea that the

interface is yourself. Between the music and the visual.

So, you can develop a new dimension & new relationship with music,

by being active and not just receptive.

-------KOMURO & THE WORLD CUP----------------

MIRAI: How did the Tetsuya Komuro thing together and why did it come

together? Was there a plan behind it?

JEAN-MICHEL: No,err,I mean... I was familiar with his work.

I heard some very interesting productions he made.

The idea came along for a world cup album in mind with various countries,

and idea was to collaborate with several artists. Both TK and myself said

that it could be a good opportunity to work together. I wrote the song, the

melody of 'Together now', and TK went to Paris and we spent some time in

my studio. I explained to him why I was thinking of this particular theme,

because I thought it was nice for the world cup to have a kind of compelling

kind of melody that could be like an anthem. But also keeping in mind that

football is also linked with dynamics & energy.

So it could be nice to add and to mix a kind of drum'n'bass type of feel

and some kind of edgy sound.

And TK went with this idea, that I really liked, of changing the tempo in

the middle of the song. That created a kind of really unusual composition.

That you start with an anthem; rather compelling and moody;

and suddenly you have the tempo changing and it becomes really crazy.

Its like a very good illustration of what football can be these days.

They are very close, because you are playing rock music or electronic music

in stadiums which is like soccer, where people are able to gather and share

the time together. I mean, its a nice thing.

And then we came up with idea of having a singing, vocal version.

[oh no, thinks Mirai] :-)

With the singer OLIVIA, who has a kind of angelic kind of voice but also a

rock and edgy kind of sound. T.K distorted her voice for one of the verses,

which I like very much.

[Ed's note: OLIVIA is now (1999) a bit hit in Japan with regular chart

tracks]

The whole result is a true collaboration between artists, not just an

artificial collage of two guys working together in different cities.

It went really well and also then he remixed OXYGENE 13.

Which is a very interesting remix.

Its a strange sound and really crazy in terms of how he processed

the whole rhythm part.

MIRAI: I didn't realise until I saw the CD today that it was a global CD,

with other artists involved around the world...

JEAN-MICHEL: Yes, that was a concept that was developed by the record

company, with the idea to give the opportunity to every country

to produce a song for the world cup.

Wherever they are, even small countries have the opportunity to show

something and to be involved.

And I think its quite nice to have a small country or big country being

part of the same 'global' musical project.

MIRAI: I haven't heard the RENDEZVOUS 98 mix yet...

JEAN-MICHEL: This is another story...

Of the fact that the commitee for the world cup wanted a song that could be

popular and also be instantly recognisable in the stadiums.

And Rendezvous is a melody that is really very often

sung or hummed by a lot of people in the stadiums for different occasions.

And we decided to do a new fresh version with Apollo 440, with a more

groovy beat whilst adding some samples that could give a touch of humour

using traditional samples that are hidden in the track.

And the result I think is very exciting. And in England took it as the

official theme for ITV.

MIRAI: And when you made these remixes, what materials did you give the

artists?

JEAN-MICHEL: The basic multi-tracks or on DAT, and also some the people did

their own remixes.

I received a lot of remixes, from people like yourself. It's the first time

that happened- I received really a lot of remixes last year,

and I said to myself I really would like to achieve a record project with

this, but not being a compilation but more to try to get a kind of joining-

a kind of Odyssey. Through these various remixes coming from different

countries, such as America, Japan, England, Germany, France and so on...

-----------TECHNOLOGY & GEAR-------------------

MIRAI: I suppose it is always changing, but what kind of synths 'n' samplers

are you using right now? Or which ones do you like?

JEAN-MICHEL: I like very much the S3200. It is probably the best.

I am also very interested in the YAMAHA A3000 right now.

This kind of 're-cycle' device, where you can divide each beat,

stealing a groove from an existing pattern.It is a quite dance-oriented

sampler.

I think the definitive sampler has yet to be made, because samplers most

of the time are too complicated. Because you are using 10% of the

possibilities everyday, and 90% of the possibilities once a month.

I think that the 10th of these possibilities should be INSTANT.

When you sample something it should be instantly on your keyboard, to be

able to transpose and play. To be able to loop it very easily.

I mean, if you see the AKAI samplers for instance, it is just a headache...

MIRAI: ...The loop!

JEAN-MICHEL: Yes, the loop! If you want to move the end you have to move

the beginning.

MIRAI: (laughs) I know!

JEAN-MICHEL: It is a kind of a schizophrenic approach, and it became a

standard all over the world. I mean its crazy. It should be much easier.

You should select a proper beginning, and then you go to the end,

and you move the end; and not have this silly chunk

moving and of top of all that having the tiny screen split into two

parts...it is a crazy concept that!

I think there is a lot of improvement still needed. I really still love

very much the FAIRLIGHT 1, the old FAIRLIGHT with the screen.

Because that was so clear, and I don't understand why in days

where everyone is stealing everybodys ideas, nobody has been influenced by

the FAIRLIGHT where you have a screen with a light pen.

It's instant & so friendly. I really also like the DJ70,

because you can record loops at various tempos and you can instantly

get them all at the same tempo.

MIRAI: I wondered why you were still using it....

JEAN-MICHEL: Yeah, its really great. Apart from that, one of my favourite

instruments at the moment is the ROLAND MC-505.

It has more midi-controllers- the sounds and loops are very good.

MIRAI: Is that the one with the beam?

JEAN-MICHEL: Yes, that's right. It's fun.

MIRAI: Do you use hard-disk recording?

JEAN-MICHEL: For ODYSSEY I did it with PRO-TOOLS. For the first time I used

a hard-disk for the complete project.

Most of the time, I am more into digital-multi-track.

MIRAI: What sequencer are you using?

JEAN-MICHEL: I like Digital-Performer. Logic-audio aswell. I am not using

Vision, like they use a lot in Amerika. Or CUBASE, I am not too much of a

fan.

MIRAI: Oh really? Why's that?

JEAN-MICHEL: Because the VST has synch problems. Not very reliable.

MIRAI: (laughs) Oh I didn't know that. I have been using CUBASE for years!

JEAN-MICHEL: Yeah, so you shouldn't say that! (laughs)

Steinberg is very good as a company, and CUBASE is alright, but when you

start to use it with VST you seem to have some problems of SYNC

but I think that is going to be adjusted in the next few months for sure.

--------------JARRE IN JAPAN--------------------

MIRAI: When was the last time you came to JAPAN?

JEAN-MICHEL: That was four years ago in 1994.

MIRAI: ...Because the first time I came here I noticed that your records

were practically nowhere in Japan, and you were not known by anybody here.

But when you go outside to China, everybody knows you.

I was wondering was there a reason why you never came here or promoted

your music and what's the reason now that this is changing?

JEAN-MICHEL: I think it was two things. Because of the record company;

because I was with POLYGRAM before, and I almost had no connection with the

record company, and also because when you arrived

in this country it was just the moment when I was changing record

companies. So the situation in Japan was rather hectic. But before I had

quite a following and quite a big release in this

country. Japan is one of my favourite countries, Tokyo particulary.

MIRAI: Really?!?

JEAN-MICHEL: I really like the energy, the way people are; the culture &

the food. I really would like to develop my relationship with Japan

in the future and obviously all these projects are a good opportunity

to develop this relationship with the Japanese audience.

MIRAI: People were wondering why you have done concerts everywhere except

Japan? I mean, Japan would be the first place I would choose because of the

city structure. It would be like another 'Houston'...

JEAN-MICHEL: I was keeping & saving Tokyo for the 21st century!

MIRAI: (laughs) I know where to take you then!

I know where you have got to play.

There's a perfect place- the whole design is meant for your gig.

JEAN-MICHEL: Is that the CITY HALL in the center of Shinjuku?

MIRAI: Yes, that's the one!

JEAN-MICHEL: That was the project I was working on when the city hall was

being built in 1988. And it went very far because that was part of the big

project between Paris and Tokyo and I was supposed to do a concert there.

Like Houston. And it didn't happen because the construction was delayed

and it was too late.

2 projects in Tokyo have been postponed for various reasons, and so the

third time,I hope and I am sure, will be the right one.

That is really one of my next commitments.

MIRAI: Is the next one CUBA?

JEAN-MICHEL: Yes, Castro asked me to achieve this for next year.

It is a very special project- because CUBA is in a special sitution

& it is a great country aswell.

It is a project that I hope will go on. But in the meantime I am preparing

for the concert in June, the Electronic Night involving DJs,

and also the Jarkaos project and video screens...

----------------THE RAVE CULTURE-----------------

MIRAI: OK, the techno-rave culture since 1988 & the electronic music

you made in the early seventies:

What we have now is a kind of a split;

there is the techno culture, and the electronic musician,

what you might call the third generation version of you,

like Andy Pickford and myself and others...

In the 70's where we had Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and people like

yourself, there seemed a huge opportunity for your kind of music to get out

to the world, but in the nineties, for the people who are 'like' you,

who are doing the same things as you, it has stopped, there is a major

block. So most of us are doing Techno music because that's the main thing

at the moment...

What do you think about the rave culture, and what do you think about

electronic music and the electronic musician?

JEAN-MICHEL: I think I wouldn't do such a separation. I think that when I

started to do electronic music is was very difficult because it was really

considered as an non-phenomena, basically.

I remember when I released OXYGENE all record companies refused it...

MIRAI: Right! Same problem here! (laughs)

JEAN-MICHEL: ...Saying there was no singer, and you have no 3 minutes track

to play on the radio and so on. And then a small independent label took it,

and it became number one everywhere.

In Amerika & everywhere, it became a worldwide phenomena.

And then it created, for the first time, a link with progressive electronic

music and the mass audience.

OXYGENE was really the first time that happened.

You had few artists that joined this, and during the eighties, as you know,

suddenly the whole electric guitar, punk, ska & grunge and all this,

came and discouraged a lot of people involved with electronic music.

Even the people from Tangerine Dream, and all these guys moved in other

ways, like soundtracks, like acoustic music, using guitars and all that.

And very few people stayed quite faithful to electronic music. Basically at

one stage you had Vangelis and myself.

Vangelis was more into soundtracks but with keeping the electronic music

concept in his composition.

And then in the nineties, suddenly the electronic music that I have always

been convinced by, has not only been a way of doing music but is also become

a genre and a style recognised everywhere through dance and techno music-

you have everything in that.

Electronic music has developed through this culture.

This is not necessarily negative and I think it is even positive for

electronic music because you have these days; Ambient music, Trance,

Hardcore & then you have also Trip Hop, Drum'n'Bass & Jungle-

you have so many different interesting phenomena, so many interesting

styles.

But I think electronic music is part of all this, so I think everyone can

find their way in a sense. But you will always have the fact that the music

is always underground until you make a success.

Then it goes to a different perspective.

But what is interesting these days, is the fact that now, the 'underground'

as a concept, is becoming popular.

Because people are more and more involved and informed

by what is going in small clubs, because of the internet and television,

and the development of media.

So, before the underground was really 'underground', but now the scene is

popular and you can find underground acts being recognised by the mass media

and you have also popular music that can be recognised by the underground

scene.

It seems by the end of the nineties all these various ghettos in the past

are starting to meet. Which I think is generally good for electronic music,

and artists & music in general....

-------------THE RAVE CULTURE (cont.) ----------------

MIRAI: The problem I see is that a lot of your fans, that really like

'your' music, really like 'electronic' music, like Vangelis or this kind of

melodious style. So from making techno music and working with DJs myself,

and meeting with a lot of techno musicians and electronic musicians,

there is a problem; the electronic musicians are *reducing*

as they are not able to 'make' it .....

Put it this way: everytime I go to record labels they say; "your techno

sounds like Jean-michel Jarre, we can't promote or sell this." And most

techno people I speak to, when I ask what their roots are; "do they go back

to the 70's?, Jarre, Vangelis etc..?"

They say: "No, its Electro & Hip hop from '81, we are not really into that

kind of stuff" And there are so many DJs that I have asked that who have

said the same thing.

BUT when I have spoken with electronic musicians, their 'spirit' comes from

you or from Vangelis...etc.

JEAN-MICHEL: Yes...

MIRAI: ...So the third generation electronic musicians have this problem,

and I know from this from my experience; they can't get 'out there'.

JEAN-MICHEL: Do you know, I think what you are saying is what I really

think at the moment; is that the bridge between the electronic music,

the way you and I conceive and consider it, has to find the right link

with the techno scene.

Like with Oxygene & Equinoxe and such albums, I made a link with the

underground and progressive scene at that moment, that you could compare

in a different way to what the techno scene is these days.

I am not talking in terms of style & music but the situation of the

music business/industry. Where you have people who are totally from the

underground scene and doing their stuff without any conscious or unconscious

influence from the past, and the meeting between the melodic aspect and the

textures and work on layers that we like, in pure electronic music.

If you think about this kind of musical approach whilst creating a link

with some of the techno elements, that would be 'electronic music of the

future', and that would make the first huge hit in electronic music that

has not been done yet.

Because at the moment, as you very truly say, on one side you have techno

artists who are making basically 'dance-floor' music with sonic effects and

elements; that are basically based on the principal that every eight bars

you have one element, and so on and so forth as we know.

And then you have on the other side the people who are working with the

pure electronic music approach, who are saying lets keep the beat on the

side and concentrate more on the layers, harmonies, melodies and so forth.

I think the bridge between those two elements,

will give birth to the 'real electronic music of tomorrow'...

I think its people like you, like err...me aswell, because that's what I'm

interested by. What I am doing right now, it is not a statement on my side

saying this is the kind of music I want to do.

The reason why I chose a remix album with interactive stuff and all that,

because it is an experience; this is not a studio album, not a new

Jean-Michel Jarre album. But all these experiences are allowing me

to remix myself. And to digest all this.

To follow my own way and to also one day be able to create what I am

explaining to you now. By trying to mix some of what I think is essential

in electronic music; construction, layers of textures and moods,

colours and sounds, with some of the very interesting techno elements.

Because what is the main difference between the electronic music, the way

you do, or I do, and the way we think, AND techno music?

The electronic music scene and pure electronic music is based on the work

on colours, textures, and harmonies, and working on the evolution of the

sound; on the various layers of the harmonic and melodic parts of the song.

Whilst techno music is taking this idea of textures and working on the

sound, but basically concentrating their approach in terms of audio and

effects on the rhythmic pattern only and just having sequences or layers of

harmonies as secondary; as background.

I think that a very interesting fusion would be to keep the work and the

attention on the harmonic and melodic parts but also adding all the rhythmic

patterns from techno, with the approach of the richness of working on the

evolution of the sound, aswell as, at the same time, the composition of

the song. To co-habit in a sense; both co-existing, both styles,

and of both ways of considering the music these days.

I think that is the future of electronic music for the mass media

and the mass audience.

MIRAI: The music is certainly evolving in that direction,

since we've had recent music with more melody, like Robert miles...

JEAN-MICHEL: Yeah, but that was actually a very special 'one-off', it was

just an instrumental song with a dance beat.

So it really doesn't make the point. Because it was like an instant

hit but not followed with a concept. And also the music he is doing

everyday is pure DJ dance-floor music and has nothing to do with the style

of 'Children', although he is a very good DJ.

But in a totally different world.

MIRAI: Do you know the artist Andy Pickford?

Because his music is evolving to what you are saying right now...

JEAN-MICHEL: Yes. He is a very interesting and creative musician.

------------------JMJ'S PHILOSOPHY---------------

MIRAI: Ok, what I wanted to ask you. When you play the Eiffel Tower, Moscow

and all these places, and you have thousands and millions of people in

front of you; don't you ever stop and think:

'Wow, these people are listening to electronic music!'

This is not a rock or classical concert, this is YOUR electronic music and

there's millions of people there who have come to listen to it.

And there's no one else on the planet whose

ever really done that. How do you feel about that...?

JEAN-MICHEL: I'm not...I feel very...err.......[ponders]

How can I say this? I think I am part of a wider picture.

I have always believed that electronic music should be conveyed and

performed in a totally different way than the rock scene. By creating a

visual correspondance and performance.

Because these days you can listen to music in such good conditions at home,

or in your car; so if you go to see an artist, not only to hear an artist,

it's for getting something else in a visual point of view. And I have

always had this idea that it could be very interesting to involve

architecture, the environment, and new visual technology to propose to

the audience a real multi-media show. It's very funny that a few years

after the techno scene, influenced by electronic music,

is going on board by using similar visual techniques and by creating

a kind of show that is very close to what I am doing in terms of concerts.

And its shows that the perfomance now needs visuals elements, not because

the music can't stand by itself, but because its a the sign of the times;

where people are expecting to have something else better than what they

have at home.

The last concert I did in Moscow, as you know, we had 3 and half million

people there- it was the biggest gathering in the history of our planet...

MIRAI: [!]...

JEAN-MICHEL: It was not only a concert but everything. It shows that beyond

the music, beyond all this, there is a need for everyone to be together.

In a sense the title "Together Now" is very appropriate for that kind of

element. We can have Clinton,the Pope or whoever on the TV in our living

room but we can't talk to our neighbours anymore.

People are desperate to communicate emotions together.

I think the phenomena of my concerts, are similar to sharing an eclipse,

for instance, in the streets.

Everybody is looking and sharing the same kind of event because they are

one-offs, they won't be reproduced- you have no second chance yourself or

your audience.

----------------- THE FUTURE ---------------------

MIRAI: The rave culture is all about the 'Millennia' and the world changing.

The thing that attracted me to your music from the very start was that your

music was global and everyone could listen to it,

and everything you did was progressive;

creating your own instruments, going to different countries, performing in

communist countries, breaking boundaries, etc.

For me, you were THE 'futurist', and that is why I created my own futurist

group- you inspired me.

So what do you feel about what is happening to the planet right now?;

about planetary changes, aliens, drugs, the kids changing, all looking for

a new direction- All these things mixed together.

Because your music, at the end of the day, has a major link with this

changeover. Even moreso, do you think you are someone unique,

who has been given some sort of power,

and you have come to this planet for some reason to give something?

Do you ever wonder about this? What are your views on this?

JEAN-MICHEL: It's a good last question that! [laughs] what you are saying

now.

In a sense, I imagine but in a very humble way, that what I am doing is

very unusual if not unique.

Unusual because of the music and because of the concerts

I have done, I am doing and are planning to do are also totally unusual and

unique. I have never considered myself as 'futuristic' because if you start

to think about the future and saying 'I am part of the future',

it is already a statement that, as a paradox,

will send you back to the past, if you see what I mean.

I think you are part of the future when you are not conscious of it,

when you just to do it when you feel it is something new that you have to do.

I have always thought that something is pushing me and I don't know exactly

where, and I think I have done so many drafts but nothing really achieved

and that my achievements are in front of me and not behind.

I have so many things that I want to do, in terms of music and concerts and

multimedia projects; and I think all the results and the creative projects

are in front of me and not behind.

When I look back I think all what I have done are really drafts.

And talking about where the planet is going;

I think for what is new, there is nothing new.

If you take drugs with music, for instance, that has existed since the

ancient days- if you take a black & white picture of an amazonian tribe

during a trance night living music through drugs and tatoos,

piercing and modifying their bodies and you take picture now at rave party;

the two images would be absolutely similar,

there would be no difference.

What they are have been doing for centuries is happening now.

You have this kind of tribal feel in the techno scene that I like very much

because that is part of our roots as human beings.

So it is not an image of the future, it is an image of the past.

It is an image of what remains, the best and the worst.

So the in a sense everything has been made.

That is the reason why, that what you are going to do in your life as a

musician or as an artist or anyone, is going to be specific because of

YOURSELF;

not because of fashion, not because of a wave, not because of a sign of the

times. These are just gadgets, they are already just results of yesterday

so it is too late.

When something is out it is too late to take this as a reference for the

future, it is a reference for the past already.

So as an artist you always have to be in a blank world, in front of blank

paper, so this is what is difficult. But I think the best way is not to

think about it, but by just letting your instinct and your intution go.

I know that through my electronic music and through all these concerts

that I have always been amazed that nobody really went on board, with these

outdoor events. I am still the only one to do these kind of things.

And even though at the end of the eighties,

big bands like U2 and that joined the boat,in a sense, by putting more and

more multimedia parts in their shows,

they are still like rock shows coming from the indoor concept

which they are putting outdoor with a lot of stuff around. And the result

of it is that you still have 'ants in a stadium',

with a huge video screen behind them, and everybody is watching TV.

It's not a pure interactive outdoor event or multimedia performance where

you can relate to various things.

All these gigantic video screens that the rock scene uses at the moment

are, in a sense, killing the performance.

They are so bright, you can't even see the artists anymore.

And so the concept of an outdoor event is still something that has yet to

be fully explored, and apart from what I am doing, I am still waiting

for other people to explore this.

The only people who have explored that a little are those who have

organised rave parties, because in a rave party you have the feel of sharing

the audio event with somebody.

It is the reason why I respect all the rave scene.

Apart from all the drugs, which is really sad.

But you know, drugs were existing before Rave, before Rock'n'Roll, before

Jazz and even before 2000 years ago- it is part of the human being

and you can't avoid the 'dark' side of anyone.

MIRAI: Great, I am glad you said that. Thankyou Jean-Michel.

[FIN]