At this year’s Manchester international festival, maverick musician Christophe Chassol performs live alongside two of his own films at the premiere of Six Pianos and Indiamore. “I’ve never felt restrained or limited by convention,” he tells us.
You were raised in a musical family, but what made you connect with the piano specifically?
My father played clarinet and sax, and he sent my sister and I to study at the Conservatoire from a very young age. We started with percussion, but for me, the piano has always been the perfect tool. This instrument has been in my body since I was four years old. You can arrange, compose, and use it for so much more than music; you can press a note, and trigger lights. You have a whole orchestra at your fingertips.
You’re presenting two very contrasting pieces for MIF. What inspired you to devise a response to Steve Reich’s Six Pianos?
Steve Reich is like a priest for me. I discovered Six Pianos when I was about 17, but it took time before I understood its austere beauty. You’re exploring a single chord as though you’re peeling a fruit, pressing the flesh, eating it. For me, playing Six Pianos is like doing sports; I have to practice and prepare for it. I use MIDI files alongside my keyboard, and I play it with jazz chords. I put warmth and pop into Six Pianos.
You travelled to India to make Indiamore. How did that journey come about?
I’ve been listening to Indian music since my teens. It became obvious to me that the bassline drone and the melody attract together like a magnet – but in the middle of these two lines, I could put my Occidental lines. I I first went to Varanasi, India’s oldest holy city, in 2010. In 2012, we returned to film with the musicians I’d met there and I also went to Calcutta, which I’d always wanted to visit since watching Louis Malle’s documentary.
Film is key to your performance. How will the set-up work for your MIF show?
Growing up, we watched a lot of movies and musicals in my house. I learned about extreme syncopation by watching West Side Story. When I play live now, it’s me facing my drummer, with a big screen behind us – it’s a three-way dialogue, with keyboards, drums and film.
As a classically trained pianist, do you ever find yourself having to counter purist attitudes?
Well, so many things in the classical world are fucked up – in a good way. Take Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Even the prettiest pieces can be like, what is going on? I’ve never felt restrained or limited by convention.
Will you be recording new samples and source material while you’re in Manchester?I am always collecting sounds. My last time playing Manchester was with French pop acts like Phoenix and Sebastien Tellier. What I remember is being drunk and trying to do the Manchester accent, with English people just looking at me. I’m sure we’ll record things in the city, going out after the show – and I’ll meet people who’ll sing for me, and speak in that accent …
- Chassol performs at the Pavilion Theatre, 7 July
- The Guardian is a media partner of Manchester international festival.
