“Be happy in your work, pear,” an apple once said in a bowl of fruit. “The casualty of nutrition is that of a healthy diet. We are the sacrifice needed for Earth to continue to sow. Let us be..” *chomp* the apple is ate up.
Ambiguity is as it tastes, listeners. So touch a sniff of vibrations off the new Philippe Hallais (a.k.a. Low Jack) video for “Hero / Fall / Angela” from his recent Modern Love LP, American Hero. It’s trails and gazes, echoing corners and acoustic trickles that spindle a weave within one’s minds’ eye, surrounded by casual images that could be no more than just a child’s cell phone video-/photo-gallery. But inside:
Next, snoop words from the sonic visionary, Philippe Hallais, and stream An American Hero below it:
American Hero is accompanied by 11 short films and a fully designed website. Why were you interested in giving a visual mark to the project, and how was it to collaborate with director Ethan Assouline and the Group CCC?
It is a first for me to collaborate closely with visual artists on a project. for « AAH » it seemed essential. All the footages filmed by Ethan are an attempt to translate the emotions and the narration of the album by pushing it to its climax. We discussed together about a gallery of images that is picturing the figure of The hero, but in a state where he doesn’t exist anymore. No embodiment… Only still life representations and memories had to be left. Then Alice and Valentin from Groupe CCC designed www.an-american-hero.com, a home for the videos.
The visual aspect of the project being so prominent, I would imagine that you are working on a live A/V?
We are currently working with Ethan on a common Live A/V. It is a lot of work to put together, especially for him as every images are actually filmed by himself. This wont be VJing, more like a full original movie.
There has been a lot on Twin Peaks recently, and the video that Assouline and yourself just published has the feel of it. How did TP inspired the video and how is it related to American Hero?
Ethan just texted me this « Yes there is a TP vibe, all about details and objects that have a fictional strength. And also, I was looking for my own Laura Palmer and I remembered the ressemblance with my friend Léna.
It’s your second album on Modern Love in 2 years, could you tell us a bit about your relationship with the label?
It’s all about the people. I have a huge deep respect for every artist involved on Modern Love, as well as a strong friendship with them. I’m definitely here to build a long term relationship I hope.
What are you working on next?
Right now my main focus is on the « AAH » Live A/V. A few other collaborations are planned as well. Next release is a split tape with Time Cow, producer of Equiknoxx.