Predicting the future is difficult. But Parisian space-dance quartet Chateau Marmont appreciates the attempt.
“I think it’s a mix between two periods,” founder/keyboardist Guillaume de Maria said about Chateau Marmont’s retro-futuristic sound. “We are big collectors of analog synths. The way they are built, the way they look, the way they sound — it reminds us of old sci-fi movies.”
The music video for the band’s motorik, vocoder-doused “One Hundred Realities” stunningly captures this fondness of the new as told by the old. Japanese director Shinya Sato’s hazy, black and white scenes of animated marbles against kaleidoscopic astral backdrops resemble some lost “Twilight Zone” experiment.
“Shinya is in a band called Crystal, and they released an EP on our label,” de Maria said. “We loved them, they were really nice and we knew that Shinya was making a lot of videos. He told us the concept and we were really excited, so we gave him carte blanche. When we watched it we were like, ‘Wow, this is really how we imagined the music.’”
But Chateau Marmont’s electronic tendencies mark a fairly recent venture for the band, spurred by an interest in remixing mainstream pop songs. Their downplayed, spaced-out remixes of La Roux’s “Quicksand” and Ladyhawke’s “My Delirium” managed to breach France’s competitive electronic scene.
“In 2009 we were making a lot of remixes,” de Maria said. “More than original songs. We kept the main voice of the song and we managed to compose and build around that voice. At the time we were not very good singers, so we had a real voice from a real song. We started using our drum machines more, and at the same time we signed our first EP to a very famous electronic French label, Institubes.”
After recording a new LP and making their U.S. debut at South by Southwest this summer, the band plans on remaining in the States.
“In Paris, people are not very open-minded,” said de Maria. “In the U.S. you can play for young people or old people and they all have a good time. We’re really looking forward to coming to California.”
