Interview with Bob Sinclar: ethics, aesthetics and the alchemy of music
Written by Monica Camozzi
Photos by Luca De Nardo and Luigi Baldelli
…he would be caught in the jumble between ethics and aesthetics.
Unintentionally, Bob Sinclar, likens himself to Wittgenstein when he says that ethics and aesthetics are one. Why should the Good and the Beautiful be separated, after all?
‘There is a Hebrew phrase that means everything for the good, the word Tôb has a meaning whereby ‘good’ and ‘beautiful’ are two faces of the same reality. Even the worst thing can happen with an improving meaning, we have to learn to look at events with a different spirit, without letting ourselves be brought down’.
The good and the beautiful, Bob, born Christophe Le Friant, found it in the alchemy of music, which he composes, recomposes, transforms as he did with the mythical Raffa, in the other version of A far l’amore comincia tu. So much has it entered into the blood and mythology of Italy that it was taken as a basis by the two grandmothers of the ancient Santa Caterina bakery in Altamura, who responded with the song – and a live dance – to the controversy unleashed by Bob on young people who, instead of dancing in discos, are glued to their phones.
In short, Sinclar pleases, conquers, from 15 to 90 and beyond. He has a centripetal force that is hard to shake. He collects, like an accumulator, and radiates.
‘I was the ideal son-in-law’, he jokes, sitting in the lounge of La Meridiana, above Alassio, one of the stops on the oceanic summer tour, ‘I used to make mixes for my girlfriends’ mothers’.
And when you ask him if in World, Hold on -Children of the Sky, his 2006 song, he had been prophetic (given the pitiful state the planet is in, ed.) he quotes Jamaican-born, Manchester-based Steve Edwards, who had worked on the track: ‘if an atomic war came tomorrow, when rebuilding, what songs would be left? World Hold On could also be sung in a place of worship, like a religious hymn. After all, Love Generation is also the sound of freedom, positive, capable of instilling hope’.
One thing is certain: the name of secret agent Bob Saint-Clair, ‘stolen’ from the film with Jean Paul Belmondo Le magnifique, a French-Italian co-production, was auspicious. Almost a predestination.
Do you believe in fate?
‘If you believe in God and you are monotheistic, you necessarily believe in destiny. I quote the Ikigai, Japanese, the reason why you are here. It guides us, even though we have free will and can decide anything. Often we listen to the small mental voice, we are diverted by education, by relatives… by artificial paradises’.
Your complaint after an evening in Mykonos, in which you complained about people being nailed to their mobile phones, caused quite a stir. How do you see this technological symbiosis?
When I started, dee jays were not stars like now, you didn’t film them, you went and listened to them. And a vortex was created, your musical energy merged with the physical energy of the people and made everything vibrate, the water that makes us up, the surroundings. Here’s that exchange with the people staring at their mobile phones… it’s not there! And that frustrates me enormously, because it cancels that wonderful induction of energy, that alchemy.
After that outburst I expected a trail of controversy like ‘make money, don’t complain’ instead all the DJs shared and the media took up the story compactly.
What changes today, with much of the music listened to via streaming and, indeed, social media?
75 per cent of the music played on social networks, or in Spotify playlists, is old music. At 35 per cent it is great classics, new hits are at 20 per cent, hip hop is at 10 per cent and there is a small percentage left for house, electronic. Getting visibility for newcomers is not easy.
What music did you listen to as a kid?
Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, George Michael. Prefab Sprout. My sister initiated me, older than me, I was a bit shy…Black music came later.
You have repeatedly stated that you lead a healthy life, you don’t do drugs, you don’t smoke, you don’t drink. Why is it that you always associate the life of a musician -or those in this environment- with larceny?
I am not a trained musician, let’s say I assemble, I put together. Those who create masterpieces, like the great protagonists of music, often have to go into emotional or inspirational territories that are borderline. Think of Prince, James Brown, Mick Jagger.
You seem to like Italy a lot, what do you love in particular?
Italy hasn’t forgotten its roots and expresses it in everything, in elegance, in refinement, in fashion, in the sense of beauty. And in the importance of the family, in France we talk a lot about secularism but I think values are important. It’s as if time had stopped here. I love Italy and she loves me back. In any case, my manager is my mum. She is 77 years old, she follows me on social media and takes care of the administrative side, who better than her? Our family was modest, my mother raised us alone, there were often money problems, now it’s hard to say no to things and I should learn to do it because what I want is some time for me.
So your desire is time?
In a job like this you are in a kind of machine, where the imperative is to post, to be the best. I still haven’t figured out how to carve out time for myself. I’m not complaining, I’ve had plenty, but if I have one wish, it is this.
Does money make you happy?
No. But they give freedom.
Do you feel like a sex symbol?
No, I don’t feel like one! Maybe some stars of the past were, today anyone can be a sex symbol. Popularity in today’s world is more important than talent, you live off your avatar. Social media has brought a strong change. And for me now, sexiness means being a real person.
What is beauty to you?
Something that creates a huge inner conflict for me. Like a piece of art. It fascinates me. I have a strong aesthetic sense, I love outer beauty. A nice smile, nice teeth, heels, talent.
If you weren’t Bob Sinclar, if I let you into a parallel reality, what or who would you be?
A sportsman, someone like Roger Federer. I have an admiration for these athletes, for their healthy life, the power they express. I would like to be one of them but I had no talent for it.
