Name: Laurent Bardainne
Nationality: French
Occupation: Saxophonist, composer, improviser
Current release: Hymne Au Soleil, Laurent Bardainne's new album with his band Tigre D'eau Douce is out via Heavenly Sweetness.
Recommendations: Marcel Proust: à la recherche du temps perdu; John Coltrane: Sunship

If you enjoyed this interview with Laurent Bardainne and would like to stay up to date with his work, visit him on Instagram.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I was a skater and I started playing the saxophone for girls.

Which is a good (the best) reason.

Some people experience intense emotion when listening to music, others see colours or shapes. What is your own listening experience like and how does it influence your approach to music?

Emotions first. I’m really into naïve feelings and sensations about listening to music: crying, feeling good and comfortable, feeling happy or sad.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

I’m a typical example of an outsider: never doing the good thing - but doing another thing, a different thing.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

Identity? No sense of identity with regards to being a French musician.

I mean, I come from a country with no good music. Only lyrics are important in French songs - and I don’t really listen to French songs.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

Actually and honestly, it’s accepting to be a snob: lazy and still humble.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

Right from the beginnig, I’ve always been vintage.

I wanted a 911 Porsche from 1970 whan I was in the 80s. I use something old to make something new.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

15 years of saxophone and then 15 years of computer and studio.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

There's no routine. Only the constant fight with hangover.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

Sorry the process is never the same, and I don’t want to remember a routine or something.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

I’m better alone when it comes to writing. But I like collaborations, even if they don't always yield the best results.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

Surgery for people

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I took me 25 years to develop that naïve sound I have now, and it took more to make a good coffee.

So I don’t intellectualise - and that’s really for the better.