For some reason, mixing consoles — those gigantic soundboards that are the heart of every recording studio — are making headlines in the music world right now. First, a one-of-a-kind Neve console is playing a starring role in the Dave Grohl-directed documentary, Sound City.
Then in February, the New Yorker reported on a sound board purchased on eBay by the Grammy winning band, Phoenix. The console was used by Michael Jackson during the process of making his classic album, Thriller. The French rock band recorded with the board when making its latest album, Bankrupt!.
The band visits the Soundcheck studio for a stripped-down rendition of the single, "Entertainment," and vocalist Thomas Mars and guitarist Laurent Brancowitz discuss the process of making Bankrupt!
Brancowitz, on Phoenix’s interest in the Thriller console:
“Who wouldn’t want it? It was for sale for one million dollars. We got it for a little bit more than $15,000, which is a good bargain. Actually, I think everybody would have wanted it, but everybody believed it was a fake because the guy selling it was an artist — and he looked very much like a scam artist.”
Mars, on the origin of the new album's title, Bankrupt!:
“For some reason that I don’t know, we were attracted by things that were not beautiful [or] elegant, but things that are harsh, hostile, ugly. A lot of the themes on this record have a link with this. Bankrupt!, when you say it, it doesn’t even sound good. It’s just harsh, and we just like that idea.
Mars, on his notoriously opaque lyrics:
“Even if some songs on this record might be crystal clear to me, I’m sure it will confuse people. This song called “Chloroform,” which we wrote, it’s probably the fastest song we’ve ever written, which took us two weeks. I think it’s pretty simple. But then I was surprised that people reacted. It’s pretty cryptic to them.”
Brancowitz, on the music video for “Entertainment”:
“[Korea] reminds us, being European, of Berlin, West and East Germany, and all those places that have political power just because of the political situation. And we wanted to make a video about that, but maybe with a lighter approach. So the director came to us with the idea of using a Korean soap opera, which we didn’t know, but which we adored instantly, because they are very stupid and beautiful at the same time.”
