Raiding the musical vaults reveals an impressive and intensive back catalogue spanning over 15 years of Stereolab’s future history past. With the release of Chemical Chords, a classic slice of Stereolab magic, melodies spiral, harmonies dance and the rhythm drives on, a future proof sonic delight for each and every Francophile. David Osbaldestin turned on to Tim Gane, the true svengali of space drone pop, talking titles, how to found an indie label on the dole, French pop and the amazingly rich typographic language of Stereolab.

Where does your inspiration for the Stereolab sound come from?
That’s an exceptionally big question. In the beginning I was in a band (McCarthy) that did straight mid 80’s pop music, there were four musicians, I was writing with the singer but I was only one quarter. It was good doing it but I began to become less entranced, as I wanted to do some different things because my musical take was rather different from the others and I was already listening to a lot of electronic and German groups (Faust, Can, Neu!).  When we split I spent a year thinking through what I really wanted to do because to be in a band just wasn’t enough.  Then I got to an idea, which was based on a very minimalist sound of the instruments and the beat, quite melodic, with things going on above.  There were a few current groups that I liked, My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3.  The (Stereolab) sound crossed with the idea of a very driven feel using 2 note chords and then layering harmonies on top with Laetitia Sadier and with another singer as well, then later on Mary joined and we had both.
This was the basic idea, to have a very fast monolithic/minimalist spine, which freed you up to do stuff on top.  There was no real verses or choruses, where one thing or another could have gone in between or the whole thing could have gone on forever.

Where do you pick up or leave a song when you are in the trance of the music?
That just came from an idea.  Just as important to me was the concept for the sleeve and the art, the whole way in which the music was presented.

Was there a conscious move towards an international feel, of which the music and the overall package, was produced as a piece of art?
For me the point was to make records, I didn’t feel that a song was actually finished until it was actually pressed onto vinyl.  CD’s were just coming in and I wasn’t really that interested in that.  It was the whole thing, it was the title, the title of the songs, it was the cover.  Everything formulated into the final product/idea.  It was 50% contained within the music and 50% contained in everything around it.

Would you see Stereolab as being a brand or a concept in itself?
In a style of other pop bands, yes, it is a much more thought out idea really.  I wanted it to arrived almost fully formed, and I think it did, the idea is pretty much there from the first track on the first record.
Then I began thinking through ideas by recording lots and lots of records – really quickly, some different styles and some other things, to see what happened.  I really like that idea of building up a large number of little attacks with records and then moving on to something else very quickly.
There is concept, it’s a slightly high concept band, it wasn’t just mumbling along.

Do you contribute to the art direction of your sleeves, the merchandising and the videos etc.?
Yeah, yeah.

Is it a collaborative process?
Well, I don’t really have anything to do with the videos, I don’t like any form of compromise, and so we normally say to the person doing the films just do what you want!
I normally find the base concept for the sleeves and then work with a artists/graphic designer to give the final thing.  I’m not a technical person in that sense. So most of the albums were done like that up until we started working with Julian House (Intro).  I would give him rough concepts and he would go away and change them rather more than we were doing before and he would do something that I liked.

They add to the concept, there is a whole amazing collection of artwork that comes from this collaboration with Julian.  Would you see Julian as being Stereolab’s Peter Saville?
We knew him basically through the fact that he did Broadcast. Which was one of the first bands on our label. What’s great about Julian is that we connect on one level about music, we often talk about music when we meet.  I’m looking around for ideas and stuff and I bring it in, as more of just a taste of the direction and often he designs the sleeves and he’s never heard the music, as we’ve not had the music finished while he’s working on the sleeve.  He never gets given the music until he’s at least half way through or either he’s done it!
One time I took him in a collection of early 70’s French art magazines (Artforum, Studio), they had these interesting adverts with funny writing of the period.  Then he came back with a few sleeves.  He just took a few small things and made them completely original, that was totally him. He is able to keep the feel without making it look retro.
My kind of take on a sleeve is something, which is done quick and then you move on, like collage or montage.  Julian has that quality, he has that roughness but he actually spends a lot of time on it.

It’s in the detailing. The quality of the materials: the paper stock; and the print.
It’s exciting to look at.  Especially, in the world of computer graphics, where you can get to a look really quick, that would have once taken ages to get close to.
Julian’s work really retains great character.

Typography is an integral part of communication the Stereolab message.
We tend to try to change it.  One example is “Dots and Loops”, I got two designs out of a book of free designs from a shop in Covent Garden, I picked them because they were really simple, nothing special.  We gave these to Julian and he came back with this fantastic font!  It totally destabilised our original intent but in a good way.  It brought something out from a thing that wasn’t there.  This combination shows where his ideas come from, the original concept is still there but he makes it 3d as opposed to being 2d.

How important was it to set up your own record label?
It was of equal importance to being in the group.  The two began at the same time. For me they are connected completely. The label was run by Laetitia Sadier, me and Martin Pike, who was also our manager in London for the label. Martin used to sell t-shirts for McCarthy, he had no experience before this and we decided to start the label together.  We borrowed a little bit of money and I was on the government allowance, and that’s how it began.
As I said before, in the beginning I didn’t just want to do music or demos, I didn’t want to send anything to anyone, I just wanted to get straight in and do, which was the first 10”.  I particularly wanted to do a 10” as there wasn’t a lot of people making them, it was really important to get that look with a photocopied thing wrapped around them. We were restricted by cost but we did go for that on purpose, that kind of look.

A return to the DIY aesthetic?
Yes.  Basically, I came to get really excited by covers, there’s a great deal of information on the cover that’s not just what you see, there’s a great deal of information about the imagination of the person who designed it.  Also there should be a great deal of information about perhaps what you should expect from the music, not just what kind of music or style of music but the amount of invention that gone into it should be apparent from the sleeve.
It also runs with my idea, that very, very simple ideas, ultra-simple ideas, can contain masses of complicated information. How it fits with other records, the environment they are displayed in.  With 60’s pop records, they are ultra-simple in chords but massively complex in the resonations in which things are put together.  So for me I am always interested in how one thing resonates against another, the title, the music the cover, it’s creates just a little bit of confusion which I think is the best environment for listening.

What is you favourite part of the creative process?
My favourite part is the initial writing of the piece of music.  Either, in the old days, when recording ideas on a cassette recorder, and nowadays I do the same process as this, with a guitar and a little keyboard, but I record everything direct onto the computer.  This sort of thing.  When you begin to see something forming, when you begin to see the possibilities. This is the point that I begin to like.
The next moment would be, the first stage of recording.  Its just so strange when you have something small and then you get it played by people.  Sometimes you can de-rail it and you have to be really careful of that. Other times it’s about dropping things out, there are many great moments when that happens.  Another example is when Sean O’Hagan’s done an arrangement for brass and strings and I don’t really know what its going to be like and I go down to the studio and they are playing it together with the music.

Are you classically trained?
No not at all, I don’t write music.  I learned from Punk basically.  I was too young for Punk but I was in my first band in school by the end of 1978, at about 13, and we used to do Buzzcocks songs and things like that.  I was taught 3 chords by the singer of the band and eventually this became McCarthy and from there I learned the rest.  I’ve never had any lessons in anything.  This helps to disconnect me from the instrument, the guitar is just a way of getting across ideas, I’m not interested in what type of guitar it is.  I’m not technical or fetishising an instrument.

How do to work together as a band?
We haven’t rehearsed together for a record since 1994, however, we do rehearse for when we play live.  I take the songs down to the studio and play them to the band on a computer, and they say “agh, it sounds the same!” Just chords, baseline (most of the time I write a baseline although this may get adapted) and a melody.
I can’t write as a democratic process, it doesn’t work like that.  Particularly if you are using just one chord, with very minor of minimal changes this dictates the melody and it’s not complete until you’ve done that and then the melody itself has to work totally together.  Its not a thing that I think you can just adlib really.  Not for me anyway.

Who writes the vocal melodies?
I write the melodies.  I don’t write the words but I write the melodies of the vocals.

Would you consider yourself a Francophile?
Yes.  Well, I’m married to a French woman, and I live with another French woman.  In terms of music, I like some, I like French films and Art ideas, but I don’t think I’m overly Francophile, I just try to get the bits that I think are interesting.  I remember in the late 80’s I didn’y know that many people into Gainsbourg and people like that.

Do you have an opinion on the current wave of French pop?
Yeah, I really like the Justice album and I like Sebastien Tellier’s record.

How do you feel about his latest release “Sexuality”?
I didn’t really take to it initially, the production is more electronic, for the first couple of listens I missed the strings but actually I think it’s really good now.

How do you feel about the balance between analogue and digital?
Not every release that we’ve done, have we been able to do on vinyl, obviously due to financial reasons.  For me, particularly in terms of artwork, I always think in terms of albums on vinyl and in terms of formats and order, because it’s an archetype that still means something within itself, as opposed to just a carrier of information.  I think that Vinyl is more that jut a carrier of information and it’s more than just storage. It’s tactile and it changes the way you perceive things when you can actually see the physical product of the analogue process.  I have a lot of records and I like playing records on a record player.

Do you have a wish list of artists or musicians you would like to work with?
No, well I don’t have one until I get to it.  I’ve pretty much think that I’ve worked with all the people that I have liked working with.  I’m more interested in getting the ideas, not being pre-occupied with the sound so much.  I don’t know if there’s space for musicians, as the songs are pretty much densely organised in the beginning.  I tend to write lots of lines simultaneously and they each hang off each other, there’s often no room on top for other people.

What’s your favourite city?
At the moment I’m living in Berlin, but I really like Paris, it’s a great city to wander around in and I like New York but I would say at the moment Berlin is my favourite.

Which song/recording are you most proud of?
I like the Fluorescence’s EP the most.

David Osbaldestin

Catch Stereolab live on the following dates:

12-Dec : The Pavilion, Cork
13-Dec : Tripod, Dublin
14-Dec : Black Box, Belfast
16-Dec : Oran Mor, Glasgow
17-Dec : Academy 3, Manchester
18-Dec : Concorde 2, Brighton
19-Dec : KOKO, London