Jean-Michel Jarre had a long interview with Blitzed magazine. In this interview, he talk about why his style kept changing and evolving over the years and why he doesn't listen to people who think he should come back to his old style.
"I know there are lots of fans that are expecting me to do or repeat Oxygène for the rest of my life. Of course they will be absolutely stopped by Oxymoreworks because we have some extreme, noisy work going on with this, which is what I like."
"I remember when I did Zoolook (1984) back in time. I remember one music critic in Paris and this music critic came across the road and shook my hand and said, ’It is amazing, I must congratulate you, very few artists are destroying their image as you just did with your last album!’ (laughs) Then you know a year later it became one of the most sampled albums of that time. So all of this is quite fun after a while, and you cannot win if you listen to that."
"You have people and some of the audience who think you are ruining yourself, because it is too close to what you have done and they want something different, and when you try something different they say; ’I hate what you have done!’ But at the same time as I said it is the same thing for you as a writer or for a filmmaker. After all and after a while your first audience should always be yourself. If people are following you or not, and the way you find other people and another audience is quite exciting. The curiosity is the supplement to your relationship with that culture, and not to be trapped by other people's ideas. It is more difficult than we think for an artist because you have your own ideas so as not to be trapped by old habits. You can almost subconsciously go back to patterns, to interesting patterns. So you have to trap yourself in your opinion that should bed slightly different and it is an interesting process I would say."
„What is an interesting challenge is not being enslaved or obsessed by the way in which you will be liked or hated by an audience. But the fact is you can be in phase with the audience sometimes. You are not seeking or searching for it but actually aware the audience is there and it is interesting to share your dreams with them. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail, but what is important for an artist is to think as early as possible, or as soon as possible, that success as failures are accidents is the real way."
Jarre also commented on the the way today's society have a negtive vision about the future and technology:
„Instead of this apocalyptic and dystopian type vision we have towards the future, (which) most of the time is triggering and creating a lot of mistakes, we should be in phase with the present and reject again what we feel could be negative. And again technology is neutral. It is all depending on what you do. Of course Al will have a dark side and will book have a wrong use, or the dangerous use of Al and the Metaverse. It is not due to the tools we use but due to the way in which we use it."
On VR he says:
"It really is an amazing new mode of expression. Like movies or cinema going back in time to the beginning of the twentieth century. In those days people from the theatre were saying that these guys moving on a white screen were not real actors, that it had to be someone moving on stage in view of the audience, and physically. But the cinema became a major art form of the twentieth century until today, and not competing with theatre but even reinforcing it in a sense. So the same with VR, it is not a matter of competing with the live shows or live events - it will always coexist. It is important to reach the audience that cannot be reached - for social reasons or habitat, people who cannot go to a concert or a gig, through VR they can be a part of it. So it is an interesting medium of course."
When it come to A.I., he believes:
"You know, it is actually in the human DNA that we think that yesterday was better and tomorrow is going to be worse. If that were so true we would not be here to talk together this morning, and you know technology is neutral. It is all depending on the way you are using it. I mean when we invented or created fire, fire is totally dangerous. A long time ago we invented the fission of the atom which is also dangerous, but fire could be warm and it saved us, at the same time the fission of the atom created the atomic bomb and at the same we made lots of progress in biology and medicine. We have to be aware of new technology too but not afraid. I think it is a big mistake of to be afraid in principle, but not being naive, but aware and as soon as possible setting the rules about new technology tools. It is like rules and regulations are access to freedom - not the reverse. We (for example) have a driving license that you can drive safely on roads all over the world because of rules..."
Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum
