Episode 4: Electronica

In this mini episode Jean-Michel Jarre walks Matt Berry through how he created some of the iconic sounds on the monumental album that is “Oxygene”. The use of minimal equipment in clever ways meant that “Oxygene” changed the sound of electronic music forever. Jean-Michel gives some deep insight in to the processing using specific pedals that he used to create strange new sounds and Matt Berry can hardly contain his excitement!

In 2018 Jean-Michel Jarre announced two album projects. The first is the career-spanning collection "Planet Jarre" for which he dug deep into his vaults and arranged in an innovative thematic way. The second is the upcoming "Equinoxe Infinity", an exciting new project based around artificial intelligence which revisits the themes of his classic album "Equinoxe” on its 40th anniversary. In this episode Matt Berry dives deep into the music creation process and the two discuss how technology is both a blessing and a restriction for musicians today.

“Electronica” is a Grammy nominated project that Jean-Michel Jarre released on two albums in 2015 and 2016. It features 32 collaborations with different artists including Pete Townshend, Moby, Armin van Buuren and Hans Zimmer. In this episode Matt Berry and Jean-Michel Jarre talk about the mammoth process of traveling and recording with each artist, the personal connections made, and future plans for “Electronica 3”.

Jean-Michel Jarre has so far received FOUR Guinness World Records for playing to the biggest crowds the world has ever seen. His stage design continues to break new ground with every tour he plays. In this Episode Matt and Jean-Michel talk about how terrifying and surprising it was to play in front of a crowd of one million people in Paris and what it was like to be the first musician to perform these massive outdoor concerts. The two discuss what impressions he left with the citizens of China following his ground breaking concerts in 1981 and how an incredible London crowd made up for the hilarious and ridiculous organization of his famous Dockland show. Discover how an artist comes up with new visual ideas for live shows and what six camels have got to do with the legendary concert in front of the pyramids in Egypt.

This week Jean-Michel Jarre and Matt Berry discuss the process of creating an album that would change the course of Electronic Music forever, what cooking has to do with music production, and how works considered classics today were initially boundary-breaking experimentations. An episode that is a must for every modern producer and fan of music history!

Matt Berry dives into the early years of Jean-Michel Jarre’s career, discussing how the noise of a railway station formed his early interest in strange sounds, selling a guitar to purchase his first electronic instrument and how thinking non-commercially lead to huge success.

This is a short trailer for Planet Jarre: The Podcast with Jean-Michel Jarre and Matt Berry.