"44½: Live & Unreleased Works" is the title of the 12-CD-2-DVD box Art Zoyd released at the end of 2017. This is not an exhibition of the countless albums of the French avant-garde band founded in 1968. Instead, the box gathers unpublished recordings and various live material. A battle of material, which gives deep insights into the secrets and the essence of this legend of the Rock In Opposition movement. eclipsed spoke with Gérard Hourbette, who since the beginning of the 70s together with Thierry Zaboitzeff and after his departure in 1997 until today alone shapes the fate of Art Zoyd, not only about "44½" but also about the history of the band.
eclipsed: How did you get the idea to publish such an extensive box with archive material?
Gérard Hourbette: Art Zoyd has wanted to publish such a retrospective box for quite some time. But we had no idea at all how many CDs such a huge project would need. And with our own label it would have been quite difficult to realize such a monument. Then I remembered the Cuneiform label. I met Cuneiform founder Steve Feigenbaum at the anniversary concert at the RIO Festival in Le Garric 2015. He was pretty excited about the project. He then suggested adding DVDs, especially from our performance at the festival he saw that day.
eclipsed: What did your work on the box look like?
Hourbette: We have been in constant contact with Thierry Zaboitzeff. Together with him we worked out the tracklist for our anniversary concert, where Thierry played with us again. We both talked a lot together about the box and our contact to Steve Feigenbaum. We've listened to huge amounts of archive footage. Old magnetic tapes, DAT recordings, cassette recordings. All things we had to restore in our studio. We collected concert recordings, theatre music, music for outdoor installations, unused, unpublished recordings. We spent many months putting together a coherent tracklist and remastering most of the recordings.
eclipsed: What are the highlights of the box for you?
Hourbette: I think the Berlin concert is full of energy and exciting. Also the concert "Le Mariage Du Ciel Et De L'Enfer" with the ballet of Roland Petite is interesting, especially the way it is cut. The concert with the National Orchestra of Mexico is as surprising as some unreleased material like "The Night Of The Jabberwock"
eclipsed: Art Zoyd was founded in 1968 by Rocco Fernandez. You and Thierry aren't among the founding members. How did you join the band back then?
Hourbette: Thierry and I already formed a duo in 1970/71, later also a trio. We were both 17. At the time I met Rocco, I was a violinist. He asked me if I didn't want to join Art Zoyd. Art Zoyd were already a well-known band at that time, as they had already released a single on a Parisian label. I replied that I would only join Art Zoyd if Thierry and the other musician were allowed to join as well. That's how it happened. That was in 1971.
eclipsed: How did Art Zoyd develop away from the rock environment in the mid-70s and towards classical influences?
Hourbette: From 1971 to 1975 there were a number of personnel changes within the band. In 1975 Rocco left the band and he gave us the freedom to continue and use the name Art Zoyd. We then no longer used drums and only retained classical instruments: A trumpet, two violins, a cello and an electric bass. This led us to think in new forms of composition, away from the usual bass/drums scheme. Without consciously noticing it, we have taken an important step in our work: we have crossed a kind of sound barrier within the "rock style". For me, "rock style" is not a static genre. At that time Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Magma and others were my guiding principles. All different bands, but they created tracks that were somehow outside the traditional rock format because of their lengths, their style and their experiments. At that time, the future of rock for me lay in experimenting, discovering new things, moving towards modernity (as did classical music and jazz) and moving away from the commercial formats of the entertainment industry.
eclipsed: In December 1978, Art Zoyd officially joined the Rock In Opposition movement. What memories do you have of this event?
Hourbette: RIO was neither a religion nor a trade union. It was only one movement that united groups that had an "anti-system" affinity in common. These groups refused show business and the commercial system. This was manifested through political expressions of opinion or rebellious humor against the establishment, etiquette and social conventions. And through the contemporary classical music of Art Zoyd and Univers Zero. I have no exact memories of the event itself. It was Thierry Zaboitzeff, then bassist at Art Zoyd, who first spoke with Chris Cutler about Art Zoyd's inclusion in the RIO movement. Univers Zero asked Thierry if he could help them out as bass player for the first RIO concert. It was the legendary London concert that paved the way for the RIO movement and established the genre in the first place. Later, when Thierry returned from the concert with Univers Zero, we talked about it and decided to become a part of it. That was another important step in our career.
eclipsed: How far were you integrated into the movement?
Hourbette: Shortly afterwards we received invitations from all over Europe. From Sweden, the GDR, Italy. They wanted us to play in their countries. I often returned the favor by organizing Art Zoyd concerts in our small hometown Mauberge and by inviting other bands to join in: Samla Mammas Manna from Sweden or Univers Zero from Belgium. During a three-day festival in 1980 I invited almost all musicians and groups of the RIO movement and similar musicians. RIO was then a kind of global hub for cultural and musical exchange, allowing bands from all over the world to play outside their own country and find a new audience.
eclipsed: Do you still feel connected to the RIO movement today? Are the ambitions of the RIO movement still relevant today?
Hourbette: Hard to say. Personally, I no longer feel so connected to the RIO movement. I even thought that we were already rejected by the movement at the end of the 80s after the "Berlin" album and especially after the "Nosferatu" album. But I was wrong how it turned out in 2015. We played with Art Zoyd our 44½ anniversary concert at the RIO-Festival. This festival takes place every year. It started in 2007 and was founded by festival director Michel Besset. It was a fantastic experience playing there. What I really think about the RIO movement is this: At the Festival 2015 I really felt and experienced how glowing and enthusiastic the audience welcomed us. There was an older audience. Also many people who had travelled from far away. And it was a big audience. I think the true spirit in the movement today is the potential to revive the old feeling. Exactly this potential for renewal is good for the festival and a motivation for the organizers. But apart from this annual festival, there is not enough energy to keep the movement alive. But do we even need a movement if it is nothing but a drawer in the end?
eclipsed: Later in the 80s you changed again and moved more towards electronic music.
Hourbette: In 1986 there was indeed a change in our country. We all dreamed of an "imaginary orchestra". But we felt restricted with our simple, traditional and classical instruments. From the beginning we have always integrated sounds and noises into our music. But the beginning of the sampling technique was a trigger for us: Now we could mix any recordings - instruments, noises, sound effects, electronics - with each other. We always hated synthesizers and other gimmicks, and the music that went with them. But then we surprised ourselves by buying ourselves a DX7. At first, we only used the DX7 to double instruments like a saxophone or cello. So electronic music and electronic sounds crept into our music only gradually. First with the "Berlin" album, then with "Nosferatu". On "Nosferatu" we only loaded a few samplers with floppy disks. Now some of us play live while others load their next sounds into the samplers.
eclipsed: You have recorded soundtracks to legendary old silent movies like "Metropolis", "Häxan" or "Nosferatu". What's the matter with you?
Hourbette: After "Le Mariage Du Ciel Et De L'Enfer" with Roland Petit, we were looking for new forms of expression in live performances. Working with a ballet or a theatre group is enormously complex. In particular, to conscientiously and meaningfully transport the meaning and power of the other art form into the music. Using a film like an opera libretto and illustrating it with our music without pretending to deliver the ultimate version - that was also an important step for us. This is the true essence, the real meaning of a "cinema concert". It is the overlapping of two different art directions, which should complement each other harmoniously, without contradicting or repeating each other. And frankly, it was also a way to avoid exorbitant costs.
eclipsed: What fascinates you personally about these films?
Hourbette: That one has the possibility to give the plot a choreographic character. What you see gives pure architecture a human-like feeling. A human structure. All through a special style. That's exactly what fascinates me so much about the expressionist cinema of the 20s. You won't find anything like that in today's cinema.
eclipsed: What are your favorite movies from this phase?
Hourbette: Without a doubt "Metropolis". Probably because of the description of the struggle between order and disorder. But this isn't the only movie. "Nosferatu" because of its dense, intense humanity, this always present question/statement "I don't know why" that the vampire conveys. Or "Faust" for his visual choreography. But it is difficult for me to answer this question, because it also depends on the mood.
eclipsed: How do we make your tracks?
Hourbette: We always composed alone. Mostly outside of any visions or images. In these cases the vision is not the only artistic way. Then we try to organize the different sequences. We then recompile details and connect them with each other. We will then link the pictures. Until the "Häxan" album, this path was always the same. Thierry and I showed each other our compositions. The excerpts that we then selected individually were rarely identical. So we had to come to an agreement and find a common leitmotif and pour it into a common mould. I've been doing this alone since 1996.
eclipsed: At that time Thierry Zaboitzeff left the band. What happened? What was the effect of his departure?
Hourbette: It happened what often happens in bands: It's about the ego, about the supremacy between the participants, but also about different creative desires and artistic ideas. We were at a crossroads at the time: I wanted to delve deeper and deeper into the music I love: the contemporary, experimental nature of contemporary music. I couldn't stand it that we had a working studio but didn't use it week after week. I wanted to have other composers as guests and make our works available to them. The opportunity arose to work with the Lille National Orchestra for over three years. Two pieces of music resulted, in which Thierry and I not only acted as guests, but which we also composed. As for Thierry, he didn't want to see himself just as co-director of our studio. He wanted to be recognized and regarded as the leader of Art Zoyd. When things got to a point, he felt himself in front of his head when I gave an interview with the conductor Jean-Claude Casadesus and didn't mention Thierry at all. We ended our cooperation and even ended up in court. It was about the name rights to Art Zoyd. A lot of time has passed since then. I must say, it was a great pleasure and very pleasant to work with Thierry on the anniversary concert and on the "44½" box. As far as the music of Art Zoyd is concerned: The change took place step by step. It started with Metropolis and Ubique. The latter was a new preparation of "Häxan". Gradually our music became more abstract, with fewer instruments. What I liked were the clouds and the traces that music leaves behind, like dreams or nightmares. In the end, it was a long way from what we did in the '90s. Soon the "Phase V" of Art Zoyd will be announced. When you hear this, you'll hear the development.
eclipsed: Which influences do you have from rock and which from classical music?
Hourbette: The question is funny, because I always had a horror in front of musical drawers or comparisons with others. And I always thought we could make music without outside influences. But that's not true. In fact, we are influenced by everything we hear in our daily lives. Music in bars, shops, on the radio, from albums. I'd like to add that we've always tried to make music that didn't exist before or at least you don't hear often. But, of course, that was a utopia. To tell the truth, to stick to common rock schemes, does not correspond to my basic attitude. I prefer to listen to the style of the bands of the 70s that I love: First Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and the like, then Art Bears and Univers Zero. Then Industrial Rock and some other alternative currents of Experimental Rock. Besides, I also like the free jazz of the 60s and 70s. But mostly I listen to classical music. The music of the Middle Ages and the complex polyphony of the Renaissance. And all the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. It's driving me crazy that I can't hear all my 11,000 records I own.
eclipsed: How would you describe the style of Art Zoyd in a few words?
Hourbette: As "Hard-Listening", in contrast to "Easy-Listening", by which I mean the music in supermarkets, which is supposed to give you a quiet end of the day. Or as "rock," as I think rock should have been. Or as "contemporary music flirting with rock'n'roll."
eclipsed: What is Art Zoyd to you? A band? An orchestra?
Hourbette: It's hard for me to say Art Zoyd are a band. That means to me we'd be working constantly. But we're not. We only play a few concerts and hardly see each other. But it would also sound strange to call ourselves an orchestra. After all, we are always just four or five musicians who come together for a project. So far I have made sure that these four or five musicians can always get together under the name Art Zoyd.
eclipsed: For more than four years you have been a member of Art Zoyd and you have always broken new musical ground. What challenges await you now?
Hourbette: In my eyes it doesn't make sense to repeat things you've already done. Unless you want to calm yourself down or pat yourself on the back. What else there is to discover? Anything! The music is a gigantic ocean. Not only on the surface, but also in the depths. We have plans: We will release another box: Title "Phase V". Five CDs with new music will be included. Included are our recent performances of "Cairo", "Three Invalid Dreams", "The Shores Of The Future" and "Vampyr". Also "Landscapes Of Hell", which contains music I wrote for the virtual reality headset project "Near Dante Experience". This is a foretaste of a future Art Zoyd project that's about hell.
*Interview: Bernd Sievers
