The Dreamy Electro Folk of Isaac Delusion [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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Rain patters quietly on the windows of La Fée Verte, a cozy café on the normally raucous Rue de la Roquette a few Eiffel Towers from Bastille. It’s late afternoon, some Parisians tap away their last work emails. The beer taps open for a couple of new arrivals. 

In through the door come two new visitors to the café, Loic and Jules, a.k.a. Isaac Delusion. Their friendliness is immediate. I explain to them that we had sourced questions from their fans on Whyd. They are excited to answer, at ease with anecdotes and information, outgoing and happy. 

The following is translated from French. Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold. All photos courtesy Isaac Delusion’s Facebook Page.    

Tell us about the origin of the group, was this originally something that kind of came together, or was it something that you were really trying to make work?

Jules: We have known each other since middle school in Vincennes, and we each made music in our own ways, we decided to do something together. 

And when you say “made music,” you played the violin? 

Jules: No, neither of us has a formal musical training, but Loic played the guitar, composed music, sang. He had a folk group. And I made electronic music, at home on my computer, making little tracks.

So it was really the desire to do something musical, not really something that came from the structure of formal musical training expectation. 

Jules: In fact we never thought about releasing an album, or how we would perform on stage. The music was between us, we saw each other on Sundays, went to the cinema, and afterwards made music together. 

So what was the first moment working together?

Loic: Jules had traveled a lot, and he had just come back from Australia, and I had advanced with my music group, and I started singing, because before then I didn’t sing, I just played the guitar. I started singing in a way that was heavily influenced by the jazz greats like Chet Baker, and Jules told me, “That sounds good! I like when you sing like that, let’s try to do something with it.” At the start it was just for fun. I went to his place, we played around for a few hours, singing “yogurt” and in doing that we succeeded in creating a song! 

What did you think about this first track? Did you think, “shit, we can share this with people?” 

Jules: I still love that first song, it has very few elements, it’s very simple, but it’s something that works. It’s really a chill track. Voice, guitar, a little beat. 

The style of your music is really the music of dreams, like a pillow on a Sunday morning, pleasant. Is that because you love to sleep? Or is it the style that you like the most? Or is it just because you’re really good at producing it? 

Jules: What I like in the music is a mix of grooves, sexy rhythms, and dreaminess, the mix of these emotions is something that I like to create. 

Loic: I think it’s also just the mix that we make, Jules has ideas that develop around the things that are more groovy, hip hop, soul. And I am a bit more indie, electro, listening to a lot of Postal Service. The more we listen to this type of music the more we get towards the groovier side, or listening to Thom Yorke, things where there is rhythm but it’s still floating. 

Yeah, it’s not music that’s really well-defined, crystalline, it’s more nebulous. 

Loic: Yes, that’s it!

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In about a month, you are going to play at the Olympia. You’ve already played at some awesome venues in Paris but the Olympia is still a rather mythical place. How do you feel about that concert? 

Loic: Create magic, that’s the most important.

Jules: We are going to try to deserve it. Do something that aligns with our styles: dreamy, mystique, nebulous. Something that comes out of the water. 

Is there pressure?

Jules: Yes there is a bit of pressure, but we don’t really feel it that way. 

Loic:  There is also the thing that because it’s the Olympia, we have to make sure that we are perfect, we have to come well-dressed, but the best way to succeed at a concert is to not stress, but to think about it as only happiness. For you, and for the people that are going to come and listen to you. If you think about things like “The Beatles played here…” no, you have to be cool. The music is cool, the music is relaxed, we have to be the same. 

Jules: That’s true, and in talking about the big venues, Trianon, etc. They were concerts where there was a pressure, it’s your head on the flyer, it’s a big room, and when we feel that stress we have the impression that it doesn’t go as well. We aren’t in the pleasure of the moment. As soon as there is a bit of stress there are emotions that become parasites, and we can’t let that block us when we plan for the concert at Olympia. 

You have to remain faithful to the music, it’s already made, so stick to it. Share the happiness. 

Loic: Voilà

We have a couple of questions from your fans about your cover of Lou Reed’s “Take A Walk on the Wild Side.” Which was a Whyd track of the weekend. How did you approach this cover? Where did the idea come from?

Loic: It was a track that I always listened to, it’s a monument. It’s true that I just started to pick up my guitar and I found the chords by ear. I started singing along and my girlfriend was behind me and she said “I really like how that sounds, that’s really cool. It’s great how you sing it.” So I thought OK! And I recorded the piece in one take that evening with my son singing along in his baby talk. 

In fact that’s the second question from your fans, because people didn’t recognize your voice. 

Loic: That was because my son, who has started to speak little words, was going “bah, bah, bah” and at the beginning I wanted to remove it. But I shared it with Jules and a few other friends and they said no! Keep it! 

Jules: It’s going to be difficult for the royalty payments…:)

After how well that cover worked out, do you plan on doing more of them? Maybe in the same style?

Loic: You know, with the Lou Reed cover, I thought it was a little presumptuous to take on a huge track like that. So I think the best way to approach a cover is to make it simple. Try to build something that works on top of the song that’s already been created, respecting it. 

Is that the same idea with remixes? Because you remixed La Fille aux Cheveux de Soie by Fránçois and the Atlas Mountains. Or is that something different?

Jules: To make a remix is to do something different, to leave the realm of the song for something different. It’s not the same as a cover. 

And do you continue to make remixes? There are demands now from fans to release new music. Do you feel like you have to release things?

Jules: No, not really. We’re going to release a new single very soon, that’s just a little track so that we continue to write and release music. We still do a few remixes, not a ton, but yes a few. We’ve got a new one coming out soon. You can’t disappear for too long. 

Loic: I think that the evolution of music is a path. It’s starting to become like a free-for-all, as soon as artists have ideas they communicate all the time, they release EPs, albums, there aren’t rules anymore. I think for us we try to stay in the cycle of creativity, always with new ideas but not necessarily thinking about the marketing behind it. 

Jules: And as soon as we do a track we can always find things wrong with it so we have to push it out otherwise it will never be released! 

Loic: I’m a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens, in terms of productivity the guy is incredible, he’s always releasing stuff and I appreciate his generosity. 

Last question. When you’re not making music, what do you do for fun? 

Jules: We love the cinema. 

Loick: Yesterday we went to see Whiplash, it was incredible. 

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