Barbagallo on the making of Grand Chien

To describe the indescribable. Or ‘sound embryos’

Petit Chien avec Grand Chien. L'esprit de Noel. La porte entrouverte.

A post shared by Julien Barbagallo (@julien_barbagallo) on Dec 8, 2015 at 4:23am PST

Petit Chien avec Grand Chien. L'esprit de Noel. La porte entrouverte.

A post shared by Julien Barbagallo (@julien_barbagallo) on Dec 8, 2015 at 4:23am PST

It’s not that easy to describe specifically the making of Grand Chien, because my writing is something that is continuously developing and there was no real break between Amor de Lohn and Grand Chien - it was simply a natural progression of the first. The method I use when writing music begins with chord progressions ideas that come to me anytime, anywhere. So I store these on things like my iPhone or computer. Little “sound embryos”, if you like.

Later, I will choose one of these and decide to build on it, creating a song. This can take anywhere from a few days to a few months. The last step, always for me, is the writing of the lyrics. I will usually sit with different melodies for quite a while, and only when I decide to record it, will add lyrics.

Recording Grand Chien, nomad-style.

Back to business

A post shared by Julien Barbagallo (@julien_barbagallo) on Jan 28, 2016 at 1:22pm PST

In terms of recording, it’s been pretty rogue for Grand Chien, like Amor de Lohn. I mostly recorded at home in my living room with my baby martin and my computer. But I also recorded while touring with Tame Impala. I would borrow a bass for a couple of hours at the back of the bus or record synth with my little OP 1 in my hotel room.

Thinking about it, my albums have all been written in this kind of nomadic style, because during the writing and recording, I have always been in a state of flux. Constantly moving, different countries, different people and places. I think this has influenced the arrangements and textures of the songs, because I would write a song in one country, then take another look at it in a different one, with different sensory surroundings and situations. It instantly gives perspective to the work but also allows me to escape the pressures of quick decision-making that can happen with studio time. It also gave me the opportunity to do work mentally, before I started translating those thoughts into sound.

Getting inspired: from SFA to Belin

In terms of outside influences when making Grand Chien, I had an interesting combination of modern and classical music in my life at the time. I was listening to a lot of ancient music, such as medieval ensembles, which reminded me of how powerful simplicity can be in music, both melodically and instrumentally. I was really inspired by this and found myself learning and playing baroque music on my classical guitar, especially when I was in Sicily. Ancient music is very connected to the sky, to the above. That’s a feeling I wanted to bring to my own work.

Then, on the other hand, I had the influence of bands that have influenced me since I was young, which are more related to British pop like Super Furry Animals, Teenage Fanclub, or Belle and Sebastian. Or American artists like The Flaming Lips or Neil Young. These guys have always inspired me in terms of melodies and production. Actually, I’d rather talk about ‘inspiration’ more than ‘influence’ because it’s not really about trying to copy such and such artist but more about learning a lesson on how to write a good song, how to produce it etc…

I also admire composers like Ennio Morricone or François de Roubaix who mostly wrote for movies. It’s very interesting to hear in their work how a lead synth can be as narrative as a human voice. A few times during the recording I chose to get rid of lyrics and replace my voice with a synth. Lyrically, I was listening to two of my favourite French artists, Bertrand Belin and Mathieu Bogaerts. Their combination of modernity and lyricism liberates my writing and encourages me to aim for a higher standard of lyrical content.

Mixing with Phoenix

New video soon Nouvelle vidéo bientôt By @damnator

A post shared by Julien Barbagallo (@julien_barbagallo) on Oct 10, 2016 at 11:55am PDT

The mixing played a big role in the end result of Grand Chien as well. I am friends with Rob from Phoenix from a while ago, and I’m really happy with the work he did in mixing the album with Jack Lahana. From the beginning, I knew I wasn’t going to mix it myself like Amor de Lonh, so I gave a carte blanche to Rob and Jack who were really keen on the songs they listened to. We had similar visions, similar ideas and I think they brought a really magical spin to the songs, taking them to other spatial dimensions that could be translatable internationally.

The mixing also reflected the idea of the world as a small place in the end, as our communication was largely through emails and file transfers (I was in Australia at the time). I did manage to get to the studio in Paris twice though, as I believe it’s important. It’s important because I think there is a lot of reactivity in the mixing process, seizing of ideas as they fly into the room that can’t be achieved in any other way other than being there.

Writing in French

"Yeah mate, gonna hit up some record stores."

A post shared by Julien Barbagallo (@julien_barbagallo) on Oct 26, 2016 at 5:01am PDT

I would say that Grand Chien was really my first major statement as a french-writing musician. It took me a while to get there, in finding the balance between my anglo-Saxon influences and my mother tongue, but I decided before writing it that I was going to fully embrace the French language in putting out music that although written in French, reaches a wider audience. I think this is an exciting area for French musicians today, this modernising of French music that can be appreciated internationally and not solely aimed at the French market. This decision of mine was confirmed when I toured Grand Chien internationally recently, in Canada and Netherlands for example. The crowd was really receptive, without understanding the lyrics. Just like me at all those English speaking gigs when I was younger!