The Rise of the Synths (2019) - full transcript

If you are hearing this,

it's a message from the past...
and from the future.

We all have our creation myths.

As societies, as people with
shared interests

as individuals.

We all seek creative ways of
expressing ourselves.

In the art we try to make
or the stories we tell.

Some seek expression
through the worlds they create,

on the page or in film.

And some through music.

My name is John Carpenter



and my creation myth comes
from my childhood fascination

with storytelling and world-making

that led me to become a
movie director.

As a guy starting out decades ago

on the periphery of the film industry,

making low-budget movies,

I learned to do everything myself.

Including making the
music for my films.

Luck would have it that

others working with
computers and electronics

had come up with a computer
you could play:

the first music synthesizers.

They gave someone like me an orchestra
and sound effects at my fingertips.

At the same time I was working
with synthesizers,



other people were
discovering them too.

I'm here to introduce
you to a world of

an unknown music movement

you'll probably never heard of.

It's called Synthwave and
its been growing in the underground

for more than a decade,

and only now people are
paying attention to it.

You don't know it,
but you have probably heard it

in the movies, advertising
or video games.

We actually thought it
was going to die

before we even knew it was
called Synthwave.

We thought "This is it. Come and gone,
done our thing."

It did not have a name,
for a least, seven years

We were making music
we thought sounded good.

One day we saw that word pop-up
everywhere.

And at first I didn't get that it
could had something to do with us,

or that we were included in it.

It's a new word for us...

Because we started to do this style
of music in 2006-2007.

But it did not have that name.

And then suddenly we woke up in
2012-2013 with the Synthwave tag.

And: "Oh ok, we're in it".

So yes, it's music made with
synths.

- And waves.
- And waves.

Define it?
Like the new wave?

Synthwave? I do not understand
what the wave is.

I get freaked out
with the genres sometimes,

pigeonholes.

And people get uptight
on internet and stuff...

“This is dubstep or new
euro funk or..."

Whatever it might be!
Who cares, man?

Listen to the music, enjoy it.

There is too much keyboard warriors.

To me Synthwave is music that
conjures movies in your mind.

It is a soundtrack for mind movies.

It is like a new term
for electronic music.

A certain type of electronic music

that sort of recalls music you might
heard in the 80s.

How would you define it?

The big question!

I see Synthwave as...

...the illegitimate child of Metal
and New Wave,

who did also some shady things
with Electro at the same time.

It's a kind of melting pot
of different musical styles.

And that's why it actually works,
because it resonates with everyone.

There is no need to have a
musical education,

or to have an encyclopedic knowledge
of the 80s to enjoy that sound.

I think Synthwave is a very
postmodern subcultural thing.

It's got one foot in the past

and it's got one foot
in the future as well.

And so, it's forward facing and
backwards facing at the same time.

And if you aresomewhere in the middle,

that's probably what I'd
call Synthwave.

A lot of people feels that music is
dying. It's becoming generic.

There's no soul to it.
No real feeling to it.

Most people who listen to Synthwave
fall in love with it,

if not immediately, maybe after
two or three plays.

I believe it is going to be huge.

You can't stop that!

Good morning, Youtube.
It's Alex Eldridge,

aka Oceanland, and it is time
to make some Synthwave.

How you can sound similar
to Kavinsky...

... 80s kind of sound to it

This is what it would sound like.

Is it possible to feel nostalgia for a
decade you did not really lived in?

This is good!, I love it!

More sax!

Is Synthwave a trend
or a re-appropriation of the past?

It's both, isn't it?

It is a re-appropriation of past
sounds to make a new trend.

I always played with the thought of
making 80s inspired music,

but I didn't think anyone
would listen to it.

I was worried that people might not
get it or like it, you know?

It's like, would people
buy my records?

I think the 80s were
such a huge influence,

such a big change that...

everything that came afterwards
took pieces of it.

I know there was a big break
in the 90s.

It had to change a little bit and
create something new.

But we always come back to it.
Like we do now.

Synthwave is new music.

People say that it sounds like the 80s.

But actually, to my opinion,
it doesn't really.

It takes the feelings
that were projected

by the things that we
loved in the 80s...

and sort of converts the emotional
response into music.

The 80s were just a less cynical time.

A magical decade for films.

And films had not crossed
this awful meta

self-aware thing,

that we are witnessing now.

Films wore their hearts
on the sleeves.

Yes! I think people are
genuinely craving that.

Look at "Stranger Things" and
what that did to people.

They managed to capture a small shot
of that Amblin era...

Spielberg's 80s magic...

and people went nuts!

Oh my God, this sound?

I can't say "Stranger Things" was made

because they were
inspired by Synthwave.

I don't know that.

But I truly believe
that will be unstoppable.

And it will be the next big thing,

and Taylor Swift and all these guys
will copy the sound.

I didn't expect Synthwave
to be as influential

on mainstream as it has been.

Mainstream music is like this big
layer that everybody is aware of.

Music that people are aware of.

But underneath that, there is
this massive Synthwave presence.

Suddenly everyone is talking
about it...

That's when they all google
"Synthwave artists"...

I want the whole world to know
about Synthwave.

Who would not like it?

I think people find
today's Synthwave

that sounds like old
electronic music...

They find it fresh because they never
heard it before, that's all.

It's probably just as simple as that.
Something new.

I've been lucky, due to my age,
to live in that time.

The catalyst for Synthwave
is nostalgia

and the visual aesthetics of the 80s
and cinema as well.

Many LP covers of
Synthwave, what they describe

and what they're reaffirming
is an aesthetic.

And I think this is
what people like.

Grid backgrounds,
like the movie "Tron",

these gradients and colours
especially in lilac tones,

those cities you see
on the horizon, at night,

with neon lights and billboards,
like in "Blade Runner".

I think the graphic design,
the art,

is a first step especially for
underground artists

as they need to catch your
attention quickly.

I think Synthwave did help.

It definitely sparked another
interest to people.

"Hey, remember the 80s?
It was so cool!"

And there's all these bands
playing 80s type of music...

There's even video games being made...
looking 80s.

Not just the music.

I think a lot of that 80s
style came back.

Yeah, the movie "Drive".

Synthwave is just a term
that kind of crystallised.

The catalyst was "Drive",
the movie.

So around 2010, I basically
just wanted to stay longer

in the universe of the movie,
in a way.

Everything was so new in terms of...
I don't know. Before that,

most people would probably look at it
sort of derisively

if you said that you listen
to that kind of music.

Ten years ago it wasn't that cool
as it is today.

It wasn't called "Gunship" back then,

but we'd already written
half a record of it.

We put a lot of work into it and then

there was a defining moment
when it shifted.

And we were like:
"Ok, this project is changing.

- That's when I went to see "Drive"
- Yeah

I remember going into that movie
by myself.

It was the summer,

I rode my motorcycle
to the cinema by myself.

Just took a chance.

It was hot for England,
I was just wearing a t-shirt

and I will never forget it.

When the credits came up and
that track rolled

I was just like: "This is magic!"

The movie, if it got an
impact on many things,

it was because it defined a
type of sound.

I was waiting in my heart
for a director who says to himself:

"Oh wait, there are guys doing this
kind of music".

Electric Youth and us,
we were contacted

shortly before the movie was showcased
at the Cannes Film Festival.

It was really important for all of us
to be on that soundtrack.

That's the magic of cinema:
it's forever.

It's a song that's going to last.

For people like us who love cinema,
it's the ultimate dream.

It's not a Synthwave song,
I could say that.

It's not a retro song.

I'm saying that as people who
created it and the intent behind it.

I wrote that coming from a place
of true emotion,

so it's hard for us sometimes,

when we see a song like that,
that we put that into,

and what someone celebrates
about it is that

they feel it sounds like 80s.

It just feels very
surface level for us.

I guess you could say it's a bit
of a misunderstanding.

But at the same time it
does come back to:

There is no wrong take on art.

If someone takes it as that,

and that is what it is for them,
they are not wrong.

I think it made it ok for people

to love pink neons
and the cities at night.

I love cities at night.

I think we're doing a little
bit too much about ”Drive".

When media outlets discovers something
for them it's new.

But people making music with synths,
it's not really new.

But I think it was the trigger,
because the song was a hit.

And then people were like:
"Hey, why don't we do the same?"

Since the release of "Drive",

I'd say a lot of people
gravitated towards that.

I didn't actually see it for a while.

I was writing this music
and people would be like:

"Watch Drive, you'd probably like it.
It's a good movie"

But up to then, I wasn't
aware of other people

making retro electronic music.

I didn't think this subculture was
gonna get so much attention.

I don't want to sound purist
or snobbish

but for me, it took a lot of
the fun part away.

All of the sudden, I started hearing
from people

that I knew in my friends
environment...

"Have you seen this movie?

It has this really great
retro soundtrack."

I'm like: "Yeah, ok... I'm doing this
sound for a few years"

To be honest, I didn't even think of
being

part of this documentary and
showing my face.

I just got the feeling that
they think

it should be like
a closed club, you know?

That no one else can come
and make this stuff.

And I'm thinking:
that's ridiculous!

When what we're doing is
a homage to the 80s.

You ain't inventing this stuff!

I think when we all started off,

it was a very small community.

There weren't a whole lot of bands.

I mean I only knew like
maybe six bands.

I didn't think there was gonna be,

hundreds of other guys
in the next few years.

Maybe it was a little more special
when it first started.

The small community... and then now,
it just kind of evolved.

And everyone is like:
“Oh, I could do that too."

The kids rushed on the bandwagon
and the music suffered.

There's a lot of bad
records out there.

A lot of great ones too.

I'm probably too old and stupid
but I hate the Internet.

In a way, it has killed the
concept of criticism.

I mean, everybody says what
they think on the Internet.

And there are people who
share their opinion with you,

even if no one has asked
them to do it.

It becomes a big circus.
People insulting, morons, you know?

There is a Facebook group
that still exists called "Synthetix,

where everyone could go and
discover things and talk about it.

I was definitely one of the guys
that kind of blew up.

It wasn't anything I was ever
really pushing after hard.

It just sort of happened.

I know there is definitely a group
of people,

were kind of hating on it
or whatever...

and feel like they should
have been there.

I don't have all that.
The only thing I have is Twitter.

I don't even reply.

When I did have Facebook...

a fan made it and made me admin.

So I start using it...
I post a couple of tracks

and I got comments like:
"This isn't an 80s Stallone track"

And I'm thinking:
"Well, I fucking made it!

So there's no interest, you know?

The music is more interesting.
It always come back to that.

We were making what
we wanted to hear,

and finding other people
doing the same thing.

When we formed Rosso...
it was a gamble.

We didn't know if anyone else
would even like it.

For me, success will kill Synthwave

as it will lose completely
its garage spirit.

I don't know.
It is growing.

I'm not sure whether that's a
god or a bad thing.

We'll see.

There's a rebel beauty
in the way these artists

feel so strongly about
their music and subculture.

I say to them:

If you want to create something,
you can do it.

If I can do it, you can do it.

Don't intellectualize it.

It all comes down to one thing:
instinct.

That's what you must
keep close to you.

I'm on that tape because some of the
kids seem to relate to

something in my career and
my soundtracks.

I don't really know about that.

I don't think anyone should
relate so strongly

to what old folks like me have
done in the past.

I've tried my best
to make good movies and music.

I tried really hard because
that's all I could do.

But everything after that,
what it means to others,

it's not on me.

If it means something to you,
That's just great!

Part of being an artist is finding
what you want to do.

And once you find it, you'll know.

You'll feel it.
Like: "This is it."

For me, I had no choice.
I fell in love with movies.

But then came music and that
was transformative.

But my first love was in the movies.

That's where I decided to go to
school and learn how to make them.

I wanted to do that more than
anything in the world.

Things exist in cinema that don't
exist in other places,

in real life.

You just have to go where you love.

In the mid-2000s,
maybe 2006-2007,

we all felt kind of stale

with what was popular at the time.

There wasn't a lot of inspiring
new music coming out.

We got to this place that
wasn't very exciting.

So me and a lot of my friends started
looking to the past for inspiration.

That's where we first got
into Italo-disco and krautrock.

Things like that became
really influential

on the sound of "Survive"
and a lot of other artists.

It was a big group reaction
to culture at the time.

We all started bumping into each
other on MySpace.

And we're thinking: "this guy's making
something similar".

"Oh, there's disco..." and we're
looking through...

recommending people to each other
and started talking.

Everyone was on a same open
field back then.

Probably internet geeks or something,
I don't know...

I was not a user on MySpace.

Something happened in Myspace?

It was a guetto, right?
There were no rules.

- Myspace era was...
- Is where it all began.

- I think the best time of Synthwave.
- Yeah

I didn't know there was
any scene back then.

I just started making music.

I have no formal background, training
in music, anything like that.

I downloaded some really old software

I think it was called
"Making waves audio".

Most of the stuff was completely free.

I didn't have anything, no money
to spend on the software.

And that's basically how I learned:
by myself.

Facebook wasn't as popular.
It had recently came up.

At that time, there was no outlet
for people to share

other than Myspace and some
message boards.

I uploaded a few songs there.

I think it was Miami Nights,
ActRaiser at that time...

He asked: "Do you want to join
this collective?"

I said: "Ok, no problem.
Let's share ideas and music."

The first thing I remember of when I
discovered this Synthwave world

was MPM soundtracks and
Miami Nights 1984.

Those were the acts where I was like:
"What is this?

Because I've grown up with 80s music.

It was clear it was new, but it wasn't
trying to pander to radio.

It was clearly trying to be very
in-your-face 80s.

And I was like: "You can do this?·
It was a wake-up call.

I was like: "Oh my god. There are
other people that like this?"

I think myself, 80s Stallone,

ActRaiser at the time,
Miami Nights 1984 now,

we weren't the first...
There were not just a lot of bands.

That were only like a dozen
people on MySpace,

really trying to push that sound.

So, as a group, we would advertise for
each other... basically.

We were surprised, that
we weren't alone.

Slowly people started to
understand it.

There was definitely something
happening in Europe, in France.

The first people really doing it,
would have been...

Kavinsky and Valerie Collective.

I'd say they definitely
started the whole thing.

We always come back to Kavinsky.
"Testarossa Autodrive", there you go.

The french! They do electronic
better than everyone.

The first thing I remember,
it would definitely be...

Probably around 2007,

I've found Kavinsky through
Justice, I guess...

and they made an impact.

I didn't realise what it
was at the time.

Just something I liked.

It wasn't really that retro but,
in hindsight, yeah,

I feel like it led to a
lot of the things

that we associate with Synthwave now.

At that time, "Discodust" was a
really big german blog

for anybody who was into electronic
music, and music discovery.

It was there where I came across

the cover of College's first
release: "Teenage Color".

And that image just caught my eye.

This was like:
"Wow, like this is....

This makes so much sense to us!"

I remember Austin stayed up all
night on the Internet,

and I woke up in the morning
and I came downstairs,

and I was like: "You are still up?",
and he's like: "Man..."

"I found something that it's
just extraordinary".

He couldn't believe it!
Like he found something

that was so close to his own heart...
That was really cool.

Yeah, it was definitely a
game-changer for me.

I don't really know what goes on.
Or how to communicate.

I don't understand Facebook.

I could, don't get me wrong.
Maybe it's me...

being stubborn and not
wanting to do it.

But yeah, I don't know how
things work these days.

I don't even know how to get a track
on iTunes or whatever.

Because it's such bullshit!

What's the point?
That's how I honestly feel about it.

I'm just going to make some music and
put it on the internet for free.

If people listen to it and like it,
I'm happy.

I like to keep things
quiet and personal.

I'm not the thing that sells.
The music is.

Do you know what I mean?

That's probably why
we never put a face to it.

We didn't feel we needed to jump up
and down on "Top of the Pops".

A lot of artists are just
little bundles of self-doubt

that somehow still put out work.

I've just existed purely
on the internet so far,

just as a recording artist.

I've also benefitted from
not really having

my face or my body shown a lot...

Specially as a woman, you're in a
position where people feel like

they can judge you more for
how you speak or what you look like.

It's not standard for girls

to have a mask with glowing eyes on
stage and just: "Rock out!".

I've been lucky that hasn't
been a huge part

of my brand or my identity.

We're hidden!

Nobody knows how each
other looks like unless

they put in their artists page:
"This is how I look like"

Most people have picture of 80s
memorabilia for their artist page.

About that, I mean,
I sometimes wonder myself.

What's going on? I mean,
why are you hiding your face?

I don't know, I never really
thought about that.

Do you need to show your face?

I assumed there wasn't much
interest in what I do.

I'm just some guy on the
internet making music.

Even now, I don't know
how anyone looks like.

It's a bit strange.
I never had the intention

of creating any sort of faceless
or mystery thing.

The Internet forces you to
show your face.

But I think it also
does the opposite.

You can put anything
you want on the internet.

No one has to know who you are.

A lot of the people, at least that
I've met personally, are introverts.

Its people that just want to do this,
for the sake of doing it,

and maybe not for recognition.
They just don't put it there.

So, if you don't chase it,
you're not going to find it.

I was influenced by some of my
favourite artists,

like Daft Punk, Danger.

For me, it always seemed appropriate,

for live electronic music...
because it's just you.

So, if you add that little bit of...
question... the mystery...

It's like I'm abandoning every
bit of identity that makes me human.

It makes me something
you can't latch on to,

because the way I look
as a human being.

There's nothing cooler than Daft Punk
in their pyramid at Coachella.

That shit is... wild!

We are so in the "Me, I" era.

"I do this, I'm better than you.
I have more likes than you".

"I have more fans, I have ..."
It becomes stupid.

I don't care what you're
doing or eating.

I'm only interested in your music.

I've always thought that music
existed on its own,

and discovering who is making it
will not make it better.

I can take this off and you can
put a light on me,

but I don't think the interview will
become better because you see my face.

I don't buy that.
That's a fashion statement in itself

for bands to hide their identity

because they want the
music to come first.

Not the fashion.

To say: "I have no identity
and I have no look",

is a fashion statement just like
dressing up like Lady Gaga.

Since, let's say, 2009, Internet
has changed a lot.

Back then, maybe it was still rooted
in this - now almost obsolete idea -

of Internet as this open frontier
without corporate controller.

Nowadays, you're constantly
managing yourself as a brand

and people's mindset has
shifted a lot in that sense.

Nowadays technology is allowing us to
reach the listener very quickly.

So you think to yourself:

"I'm going to do it myself because
I have all the tools".

"I have YouTube tutorials, the
computer and virtual instruments".

"I don't have to wait for a label or
someone, to give me a chance".

And what has really been created

it's a movement coming from the
artists, not from any label.

It wasn't an executive,
it wasn't the industry.

The artists themselves are the ones

who have created this movement in
the digital era on the internet.

I do not want to sign with a label.
I want to do it on my own.

Maybe Synthwave artists,

we are the last rebels of
the Internet 2.0.

You know? Just like:
"Fuck you".

It's a one way traffic.

Underground culture always gets
noticed at some point

by the big corporations that will try
to sniff money from it.

There's nothing you can do about that.
You will not win this fight.

But there's nothing wrong with
taking their money.

But the one thing they must not
take from you

is that instinctive feeling of:
“This is mine, this is my art."

“I'm making this for for a horizon."

"You might not see it right now
but I want this thing to last."

"It might not be what you like
or what you want."

“But, you know what? Fuck you."

Most of these guys were not
even born in the 80s

or, at least, they experienced the 80s
through the TV shows and movies

they saw as teenagers.

It may not seem to be important
but the 90s were a time

where a lot of things were
radically changing.

And everybody was rejecting the 80s.

Everybody wanted to
move on from that decade.

It was the mass introduction

to digital and personal computers
for households.

Everybody could make music
in their bedroom

and no middleman was needed anymore.

That was a lie but,
we bought it.

Analog wasn't cool.
Synthetizers weren't cool.

Get a guitar and play loud!

And we moved on from the glossiness
and carefree attitude of the 80s.

No more leggings, crazy hair
or cheesy music.

Let's do something else!

Find the Game and use the coin.

- The 90s?
- Do we have to?

I didn't know that the 90s
were like a "no-no"

apparently in the synthwave community.

What we are now fetishizing is
really 90s.

Because the colors... it was 16-bit.
You couldn't do that in the 80s.

So what we're calling 80s and
retro is really 90s.

So, the 80s and 90s...

they tend to blur into each
other in a cool way.

The funny thing is that the 90s
sound like the 80s.

Right up until 1996.

Especially 90s action films.

We get our best inspiration
from that stuff.

The music was always so epic.

The music works so
good! It's so badass!

"Terminator 2"

Well, the movies themselves were...
just better.

Some of the main touchstone movies
that we all of us love,

were at the end of the 80s, anyway.

Early 90s was also
a very fruitful era for

what we perceive as
having 80s values.

It wasn't until like 1995
where it all changed.

I was playing saxophone,

and trying to do music and
have girlfriends.

I didn't have a girlfriend, for sure.

In those years, my musical culture
was much more techno,

I listened a lot to Underground
Resistance, Jeff Mills,

Fumiya Tanaka...

I would go to quite a few
technos parties,

And then Daft Punk in 1997 releases
"Homework",

which is a cornerstone of all this.

"Homework", when you open it, the
artwork is their childhood bedroom.

That's the intention, really
"Around the World", all those tracks.

It's already a little nostalgic.

I have this view that Synthwave has...

in its DNA and its roots...
that it's French.

I remember talking
with a French artist

about how when he was
in high school in 1996,

he was at some club in Paris

an underground thing,

and there is Daft Punk without
there masks, before the robot stuff,

DJing in the middle...
mashing it up whatever.

They were tapping into this
80s retro sound.

But I think the French never saw
the retro as uncool.

We grew up with this
beautiful cool thing

let's see what we
can do with it now.

And I think Synthwave came from that.

I don't know...

Maybe that was new music
made for dancing.

It was...

And it's true that the French Touch...

only the French knows how to do it,
you know?.

Musically speaking,
I'm not a fan.

I find it loops too much.
It's very repetitive.

Well, that bores me.

You should really dance to it,
and I don't dance.

In the 80s, synthesizer music
got really popular

and it was everywhere, in everything:
every movie, every commercial,

all over the radio.

And human nature: we want something
and we want a ton of it!

And at some point, there's a tipping

where humans go:
"We're over it. What's next?"

And so you tend to go
to the other side of the scale

and go for something
completly opposite.

Then in the 90s, you've got the
whole grunge movement

and basically killed 80s metal,
which we're all thanking God for.

Sorry guys.
You're gonna get your ass kicked.

When punk finished
and the grunge started,

synth was just no cool.
It was the enemy.

It was a technological driven affair
that were used by people

that were, fundamentally
kind of intellectually poised.

And when Nirvana came along:
"Fuck all that shit!"

"I just want to make loud,
aggressive music."

And that's why it went, because
it just became uncool.

It was cheesy!

Even Queen specified "No synthesizers"
on one of their albums!

People were ashamed of using synths.

But I think it was because
there were so many pop songs

done with the DX-7 synthesizer sound.

"Boys, boys, boys”, Sabrina,
stuff like that...

It was hell on earth!
But not the cool one.

And suddenly I think, synths,
nobody could take it anymore.

We had to go back to something
electric. That comes out of an amp.

That's badly played, and who
smells like sweat...

...and piss.

The 90s are massively
important because

the majority of the
guys on the scene are of our age

and the 90s was our time,
our era of music.

In the 80s, actually,
everyone was probably too young.

I think that NIN in the 90s,
they had inspired as much

as John Carpenter,
but nobody says so

or it's not assumed as a fact.
I don't know.

I think that unconsciously I put
in my music.

I think a lot of people put in
their music too.

They just are not aware.

They are stuck in this kind of:
"We are in the 80s decade"

Yeah, I think that's basically
the main cool right I did.

I mean Trent Reznor basically made

fucking around with sequences and drum
machines cool again.

I didn't know electronic music.

I was making metal music.

I was a guitar player.

I've just quit a metal band
that didn't work well.

It was an impulse:
I wanted to make music.

And the best way to do it,
it was alone.

And the best way to accomplish this,
was to do electronic music.

We were coming from metal and rock.

It turns out that everyone else too,
but we didn't knew it.

Ee thought we were trailblazing.

Heavy metal is a magnet for people

that are unsatisfied with
the status quo.

And Synthwave is kind of similar.

It's people that have abandoned

the simplicity and limitations
of pop music

and are going for something
more emotional and atmospheric.

During that time what Slayer and
Pantera were doing,

what Biohazard were doing,
all that stuff...

probably influenced
Carpenter Brut and Perturbator.

How old was I in the 90s?

I was 15-16.

So I had to be a rebel
against something.

And so I listened to metal.

At that time, it had to be
the most violent.

Cannibal Corpse, Brutal truth,
things like that.

I was probably procastinating,
like any 15 years old kid.

I don't know if synth music
really went away,

it probably just went under for a bit.

I think it was like a
rebellion against...

it's got to be more human
aspect of guitar...

it's more...

Yeah... more human or something
for some people at the time.

It was like an act of rebellion
against... what?

had previously been in
vogue or in fashion, or popular?

We wouldn't be even talking
about the term "Retrowave"

if it wouldn't have gone for a while.

Because then, something
would not be retro.

And it's also celebrates an era

of when people started
making music

on personal computers
on a wider scale.

From there, a lot of people
started experimenting

and guys like Kavinsky or
Collegue came out of that.

- It wasn't as easy to make music.
- Yes.

To have synthesizers you needed money,

you needed gear,

- you needed a place.
- A studio.

It was really hard.

Our music was born due to
the democratization of music making.

When I bought my first personal
computer, that was it.

Everything changed.

We could make music in our bedroom.

I use "Fruity Loops", for
christ's sake!

There you go.

I started playing bass because
everyone else played guitar.

What's the point of playing guitar

if there's a guitarist on every
corner? So I played the bass.

I got into... doing everything myself.

Because I've been in punk bands, in
all different acts, live acts...

but as soon as the girlfriend is sick
or they want to go on holidays....

the drummer is not there.... So I get
a drum machine, I built my own band.

And I can tell them what to play,
what to do.

That's right. So let's make a kick.
That's too long, that's too techno.

So we want it tighter.
80s kick.

Too hard.

Kick drum, 4/4.

Looks a bit crappy but

it's free... I don't even care.

Let's go.

I knew all the cool stuff,
all the rock

and the stuff some people were:
"yeah, this is cool to like"

I knew how to do that.

This stuff I didn't understand
how they were making it.

With the computers and
the techniques involved.

There's something going
on the back of my head saying:

"How do they do this?"

Everything else got so boring
towards the end of the 90s....

Everyone's just doing
the same shit,

so we kind of stepped back
I suppose,

and done our own thing.

So do your homework!

And it's easy today...

You go on the Ipad, on the Internet.
It's all there for you.

We never had that back then.
We had to physically do these things.

We couldn't just Google.

When I started making films,
I didn't know what I was doing.

Nobody did!

There's no conscious explanation
why you start to make movies

or any art,

it comes from within,
like a need.

A lot of people when they are young
feel that they are out of place,

that they don't fit,

they hyper focus their
creativity on something,

you are just being an artist.

People think I'm
an outsider in Hollywood,

this mythical version of me,
fighting the system.

I wanted to make films,
and make someone pay the bills,

but I just didn't fit in the system.

I had to do it myself.

I think those composers
started as a revolution

against the coolness of guitars
when the 80s were denied,

but they didn't know it.

They were against the trend,

outsiders but in the most
youthful naive way.

That's a very punk attitude.
I can relate to that.

All meaningful art
has to break rules.

You don't knock on the door
and ask for permission.

You just break the wall down
and hope someone will listen.

I started scoring my own movies
because I was cheap and fast,

and I just didn't have
any money to hire

a sound engineer or a composer.

As my father was a music professor,
I was forced to play violin,

but I had no talent.

So I switched to
keyboards and guitars.

A movie score is really about mood,

like laying a carpet down
for the scene.

Sometimes it's the simplest things.

It may not be much to it,
and it may not take too much talent...

a long descendant note,
a repeating pattern...

but it just make you watch the screen!

And that's the whole point:

Make you watch and
listen to the movie.

I think people were very willing
to forget what happened before,

we were always in this state of mind:

"Yes, we'll go ahead, we'll do
best movies, best music"

But there's a blockage,
something that doesn't work anymore.

And people look behind,
and say to themselves:

"There was something cool in the 80s."
"I really like neons."

I too had this effect and
watched tons of films,

I watched everything.

"The Goonies", "Gremlins", "Scarface"

"Rocky" and "Rambo", everything.

And I realized that it's true.
There is something attractive.

We want to be there.

We don't want to be sitting
in front of our shitty television,

eating expired chips.

We want to be in "Back to the future",
in the "Delorean".

"Back to the Future", yeah

88mph man, get me back there.

The “Rocky montage!"

Oh my God, the 80s!

When I think about the 80s

I think about sitting and watching
"Ninja Turtles" and cartoons...

If you look back in history,
everything's in black and white.

And you think the world
is in black and white.

When you think of the 80s,
you sort of see it as that VHS....

...kind of out of tune TV.

Maybe that's what stuck with everyone.
Everyone had that experience.

I was born in 1983, and
I actually grew up in Croatia.

Then we had the war in 1991 and it
was like the end of an era.

I was part of the Eastern Bloc

and all the movies were
coming from the US

and it was like this holy grail of
what life could be.

Specially because I was
such a small kid

it had this mythical proportions.

I grew up in a housing project,
and I think

it has really influenced my culture.

There were several housing projects
like that in France,

which were somewhat modeled
on the US housing estates models.

With the school, the supermarket.
Everything in one place.

And as we watched TV shows,

somehow we felt like we
were in California.

But no, we were in the
suburbs of Nantes.

I was born in 1977.

So in 80s, I'm kind of young.
I'm growing up.

The Stallone thing... probably I was
watching the "Rocky" films as a kid.

The "Knight Rider", "A-team",
all these shows are on...

The synthesizer music,
the action...

the macho, "Rambo", all these...
80s films.

That stuff sticks with you,
you know?

I grew up, I don't want to say poor,
but we didn't have a lot of money.

So when we got our first VCR,
it was a big deal.

A super big deal.

I remember getting an Atari 2600.

When we finally got one in the house,
it was a cool thing.

Watching Pac-Man who wouldn't turn
sideways. It would just go like this.

I was playing with fucking rocks,
sticks and treasure-hunting in the 80s

Listening to bands like...

I don't know the name of the group
that did "Pop up the volume".

That shit was huge for
me when I was six.

The walkman.

You were carrying your cassettes,
with your pencil to rewind them.

When you grow up it's your best time.

When you're a teenager,
and you're discovering everything.

If you know what I mean.

And when you get older,
life is actually less amusing.

So you try to put yourself back,
in the moments that made you happy.

For me, it's the 80.

This is what is called in France
"Proust's madeleine".

There is a little smell, right? like
when you had glue "Clutre" pots.

Well now, if you smell that glue,

it automatically reminds you
when you were in primary school.

Probably when things were
simpler, a young age...

I didn't have all these worries.
I had more hair!

Everything was better
when I was younger.

I had a future!

I think nostalgia plays a huge role.

Because the audience is about
the same age as me.

Growing up in the 80s, and their
childhood is in the 80s.

So there's a lot of sounds that relate
to something that they grew up with.

The thing that leads people who aren't
into electronic music or Synthwave

it seems to always be movies
or TV shows.

It's that strange?
It's not just the fashion

or hearing it on the radio.

It's actually movies.
It's interesting.

I wouldn't say it was so much the 80s.

It's that the sounds that we
fell in love with

were a lot of that synthesized
soundtracks from movies.

Definitely soundtracks is what we
always pay attention to.

Like: "Those sounds are so cool."
How do we get that sound?

The language that we share
in the studio

it's almost never bands.

It's like: "Put a bit
more Goonies in it."

"Put a bit more Terminator in it"

It's all visual, isn't it?.

That's the language we use and I
haven't realised that until now.

One of my favorite records ever.

That's a big track for me.

It would definitely be
the "Rocky" soundtrack.

I had them on tape.

"Rocky IV", such a big soundtrack...

“Miami Vice"‚ "Mad Max"...

those kind of soundtracks.
“Lethal Weapon"

"Over the Top", "Top Gun", "Scarface"

“StarWars, “Robocop"‚ “Predator,
"Terminator.

“Ghostbusters".

I got some bottles of water,
and a piece of wood,

and I went to school like:
"Yeah, Ghostbusters!"

In fact, that's what I wanted to do
later as a profession.

Ghost hunter.
I thought it was cool.

I told you there was a dinosaur!

I'm still a newbie.

I'm discovering things everyday.

I wasn't born in the 80s!

But I love films from that era.

Because I love "The Goonies", the
old "Star Wars" and all that stuff.

There was "Miami Vice"

Who was the composer?

I don't remember.

I'm very cold.

It's funny. I know a lot of directors
from back in the 80s,

but I don't know many of
the composers.

I think a lot of the music
that we love from that era,

even Steven Seagal movies and
really bad straight to VHS movies,

those composers didn't influence
people, they didn't move on.

They made this amazing music,
that just came and went.

I loved those cheesy movies...

those b-movie sounds.
There's one...

it might be the one...
with Johnny Depp...

"Private Resort".

It's rubbish acting but with
some really good music.

All that music is never
going to be released

because there's not a
mass-appeal to it.

It's just a random 80s movie with
music in the background.

Obviously the big guys
like John Carpenter and...

Hans Zimmer and all those
guys back then...

they all set influences but
there's a whole world

of 80s soundtracks that
didn't influence anyone.

That came and went.

Only now people are
sort of bringing it back.

We ain't influenced by anything

that was particularly
mainstream in the 80s.

Probably "movie-driven" things.

The "Blade runner" soundtrack

is the most significant
influence for us.

A lot of the patch design and
stuff we do on the synths

is almost always referencing "Blade
Runner" in one way or another.

For me it's timeless.

It's a movie that hasn't aged.
It's a film that is beautiful.

The score... everything is perfect.

The score it's so...
extraterrestrial.

It's sounds we've never heard before.

And even today when I listen
to the Vangelis score,

I don't know anyone else who has done
that. Nobody.

And I know many who tries.
Me, including.

Also, Giorgio Moroder.
Very important producer.

I really like him but
I discovered him very late.

Maybe 10 years ago, to be honest.

I like his soundtracks a lot...

the work on "Scarface" or
even "Cat People".

It's a quite unfamiliar movie but it
has a really nice soundtrack.

And he was also coming
from like the disco age.

And then, all of a sudden, he's doing
soundscaping soundtracks.

So it's an interesting mix.

I think about horror films
and John Carpenter.

John Carpenter movies.

John Carpenter.

Obviously John Carpenter
kind of started

the whole simple ridiculous
four-note fucking riff,

that can be really
powerful and creepy.

I watched "Escape from New York",

hundreds of times before I was 20.

He creates melodies that stay in your
head...

forever.

He's a rock star. It's a
cheesy thing to say

but he's an outsider.

He's a man that was like: "the status
quo can go fuck itself".

I relate to his attitude,
back in the days.

"I don't have an studio
that's gonna help me,

I'm all by myself,

but I'm gonna find a way."

It's like: "Fuck you all."

If you think about Carpenter movies,
what is it that you remember?

It's the atmosphere!
And that's the same with Synthwave.

And that's why I think we're all
obsessed with Carpenter.

He's the full father of
the whole thing.

Maybe that's the introduction to
Synthwave: watch Carpenter's movies.

My family moved to Bowling Green,
Kentucky, when I was a kid

and it was a strange place to grow up.

I was afraid of everything back in
those days and I became a strange kid.

I was very unhappy.
So what did I do?

I run into the cinema
to escape from that,

it was my place to hide
from the world.

That's where the world made sense.

So to me, movies were a miracle.

And then I realize: "hey,
there's someone behind the camera"

"There's someone who's leading this"

Then I saw “Forbidden planet in 1956

and I said: “that's it. I
have to do that."

Sound is just a vibration in the air
that goes through your ear.

There're probably a lot of scientific
theories about music and art

and how it works and how it moves you
in a certain way or another,

but who cares?
Are you gonna make art in a lab?

I don't think so.

Art, the way I see it,
it's just a vehicle for emotions.

In my mind some of the originators,

the people who created the
synthesizer sound

were the people that were
getting those early Moogs.

Keith Emerson and Wendy Carlos.

Giorgio Moroder,

John Carpenter,

Vangelis, who I think is
massively talented.

You watch this guy basically
compose and entire orchestra of sounds

just him on a synthesizer.

Tomita, he's a japanese
composer as well.

So there were super talented guys.

They were at the right time and place,
technologically speaking.

This is the stuff that my grandfather
played me when I was a kid.

I remember him bringing
me into this room

popping these huge headphones
on my head

and introduced me to a world
of synthesizers.

I didn't know what could make these
sounds but I was mystified by it

and I had to find out.

Most the people that are
listening to it

are probably like me.

They're pretty nerdy and
I would guess they probably know

the origin of where
the music is coming from.

One thing I thought
was very different

that kind of attracted me to it
was the community.

An awareness of where they came from.

A lot of music scenes... they
couldn't care less.

Tangerine Dream... this huge
influence for me.

The sequencing... the gear.

The improvisational aspect
of their music.

Specially the sort of mid to
late 70s period.

There was already Tangerine
Dream,

but they were more focused
on live performances

with amazing shows
in cathedrals and everything.

And then they started to work
with Hollywood on film scores.

And I think that's where the link
between

synthesizer music

and the visuals was born.

If we're going back to that,
it's gonna be Tangerine Dream.

I wasn't into them until the 80s, but
they started in the 70s.

When my dad first showed me "Thief",

the main thing that caught me
was the soundtrack,

and instantly I was like:
"What is this music?"

They came out of the 70s

but their work on movie
soundtracks in the 80s...

When I saw "Risky Business" and
heard that soundtrack...

My favorite is "Love on a real train",
I think it's many people's favorite.

The 80s were very special musically,
in my opinion,

because of the synthesizer and
how much it was used.

The soundtracks...

...simple soundtracks
on synthesizers were amazing

and it's just simply because of
that instrument gained popularity,

through Giorgio Moroder and all
those clowns from the 70s.

Goblin!

Goblin!
Absolutely fantastic.

The stuff they did with
Argento is phenomenal,

everything from "Profondo Rosso",
"Suspiria"...

live drums, live bass, live guitar,

live keyboards. All together.

It's fantastic! Like a
responsive scoring.

When you say 70s music,
I think Jean Michel Jarre was

maybe, by far, my biggest influence.

Because that sound he had in
the "Oxygen" album.

In the 70s you also had "Kraftwerk".

I liked their track "Radioactivity".

Maybe it's a little bit Synthwave.

Often you find composers,
and they are just film composers

or bands and they make albums.

But Moroder and Tangerine Dream

were the first ones to
show this model of...

being able to have presence
in both worlds.

And for that they are
super influential to us.

For me it's a nod to those guys:

Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwert,
all those early electronic guys,

Faltermeyer and Jan Hammer, and
those guys... Moroder!

That's what we were doing,
That's what I was doing,

paying respect to them,
the electronic stuff I grew up with.

People were focused on
being more real.

The record labels were signing
decent fucking bands.

The radio played good music.
That's gone.

What I love about it is that you just
don't think about what you're doing,

you just do it by trusting your guts.

And trust me, it might
not be original.

There's probably someone before you
already doing what you're doing,

but it shouldn't stop you.

All art is like that.

We all emulate someone,
every artist imitates something.

Music, movies, paintings, books...
All of it.

We take what's already been done.

That's what's so great about Art!
It's the human existence!

There you have it, right up
in front of you!

Artists put it up there
and you can take a little from it.

Just don't take too much and
make it your own thing.

Now that we've arrived at
the end of our trip,

I have a question for all you
synthriders out there listening:

the journey to the past was fun,
right?

But, where is all this heading?

I'm still surprised that people
ask you questions

for something you did years back
and show interest in what you do.

I'm happy if people enjoy the music.

If they feel like I
contributed to something.

It'll get bigger to the point where
it'll fall into itself

and it'll be super uncool again.

But, how long do we have?
Maybe 5-10 years?

Better keep going!

This whole belief of:
"Let's stay small and stay..."

Just make music you like!

Stop worrying about what other
people are making.

Like... Who gives a shit?

It's definitely changed my life in
the fact that I do it for a living.

But it's not just that.
I actually love what I do.

We love the music we make.
We'd be making it regardless.

But it's pretty obvious

which artists are gonna make
it out of the scene.

Notably, those actually
playing live shows.

Yeah, absolutely.

Because that's the best part
of being in a band: Performing.

You could be an internet band,
or be a band and play live.

It's headed pretty steady into
becoming mainstream territory,

which actually isn't so bad.

Because seeing where your music ends
up in the world is pretty cool.

All we need now is like a
Synthwave perfume

and that'll be the thing that
takes you back.

I feel you're not really
making proper Synthwave

if you are not able to embody
the nostalgia in your music.

That's pretty much the key ingredient.

When I'm writing I'm always picturing

that scene from a John Hughes movie

whether everyone's going to school
at the opening credits

or someone's leaving the school
at the end credits.

There's a certain respect for the 80s,
right?

It's not a time period that,

at least currently, people
have forgotten about.

The music is still
heard on the radio,

the movies are still popular.

There's a nostalgia value that
is still alive today.

And that is what, you know,
energizes the youth

that might have not
been around in the 80s.

I get messages from people
that weren't even born in the 80s.

That go: "Wow, you make me miss a
period I didn't even know"

"I wasn't even alive then."
And that's interesting

because when I did "The Midnight"
I wanted to...

...whenever it felt too much,
I added more.

If you don't like the 80s, you're
really gonna hate "The Midnight".

Technically, I was not born.

It's true that

most of those who listen to
Synthwave were not born.

So, I wonder how
you can be nostalgic

of something you
did not know.

For me, the only nostalgia,
that would be...

that I thought life was cooler
in the 80s.

People seemed less stressed.

Everything was more colorful...

Color doesn't exist anymore nowadays.

It's all gone now.

It's sort of... the collective
nostalgia of our generation,

encapsulated in music form.

It's this weird longing for something

that a lot of people might
never have experienced.

It's like a
misremembering of the past.

Specially if you weren't there.

You're kind of like
reimagining things,

convince ourselves that something
was this certain way

and then we'll perpetuate
that kind of myth.

Maybe we were born in
the wrong decade.

I don't expect people,
when listen to my music

to go: "Fuck, the
eighties were so great"

Because that's not really the goal
of my music.

For me the 80s,
it's a theme, a tool,

but not the absolute meaning.

But it's true that there are people
who come and say:

"It's not 80s enough what you do."

It makes me laugh.

I don't know.
They don't get it.

For me Synthwave it's the perfect tool
to say: "It was better back then"

But I don't know if it was better,
you know?

I don't think so but...

It just music.
All of this it's pointless.

You can't explain that.

You want people to listen to it,
and if they like it you go:

"It's great folks, we meet
in a common place"

Have fun and never forget you
are going to die.

End slate!

This is my message to
all of you artists standing out there,

in the shadows, behind your computers,

your avatars and your masks.

To the lost boy,

the fearless girl,

the elders and the youngsters.

The ones diving into the
past for inspiration

and the ones longing for a
future yet to come.

Yes, this is a message for you.

The artist listening to this
in your bedroom.

It's true that it's hard to say
something new and groundbreaking

that hasn't been said already.

But I believe that people should
create what they want.

Create something and put it out there

because no one is going to hear you
if it's in your hard drive.

Remember me: Your art can
literally change the world.

I'm waiting for it.

Love to you all. John Carpenter.