Hologram Teen | Morgane Lhote | Interview | A Soundtrack to an Imaginary 1980s Dystopian Sci-Fi”
Hologram Teen is the solo electronic music project of Morgane Lhote, whose music can be described as “motorik disco”. This project was born in 2012 after a lengthy and colourful career in numerous other bands, including the mighty Stereolab.
Her very latest release is ‘Géométries Insensibles’, a 7-inch EP out via Polytechnic Youth. The EP sounds like a soundtrack to an imaginary 1980s dystopian sci-fi French movie.
Polytechnic Youth recently released a brand new EP by Hologram Teen. ‘Géométries Insensibles’ is such a fun dystopian effort. How long did you work on it?
Morgane Lhote: Actually not that long at all since the songs are fairly short and simple, I would say around a couple of months. The songs had been ready for a couple of years, but I needed to find the right label to release the EP. I reached out to Dom at Polytechnic Youth and he liked the tracks so I’m glad they found the right home!
How did the Hologram Teen project start?
It started in 2013 in NYC. I began jamming with a work colleague on Ableton Live and came up with a couple of tracks, which later ended up on the digital release of the ‘Marsangst’ EP. What really got me started and officially begin the Hologram Teen project is that an old friend of mine from Paris got me an interview with the French radio station rfi, who were doing a piece on the New York musical scene. For me, that’s when it definitely became serious.
What can you say about the creative process?
99% percent of the time, I get inspired by specific parts of songs I listen to at the time. For example, it could be a string section in a Dionne Warwick song or a key change in a Grace Jones tune. I then create a completely different song from that one element.
For the technical geeks, would you please speak to your synthesizers and the effects you employ?
I actually create my own synthesizers sounds on Ableton Live using Analog (for bass) and Operator (for keyboards). I also created a whole drumkit and palette of drums sounds on my track ‘Hex These Rules’, so fun and so painstaking, lol! What I like about both those synths is their warmth (as discussed in another question below) and the fantastic analog emulation. I still have PSTD about going on tour and my vintage organs and pianos breaking almost every night (those are fantastic to use in a studio setting but not live.) So now I have something reliable and that I can create and customize as much as I’d like! I try to not use too many effects, but I do love using delay on vocal samples and sometimes on drums to mess them up a bit more.
Do you find yourself to be a perfectionist, in control, or do your ideas lead you, taking on a life of their own?
Both, lol! I’m actually very open about letting the songs develop their own identities until I find the “magic” part. What I mean by that is that one song might be non-descript until you find the right synth sound or the right sample, it then clicks, and the song is on a different quality level and I feel much more connected to it. On the other end, I’m very meticulous about editing my drum parts until they sound right to me. I can spend hours on them and it’s so detailed, but the results are always worth the hard work.
The project debuted with ‘Between The Funk And The Fear’ album. It seems to me that a story/fantasizing plays a really important role in your music?
Sure, someone commented recently that I have loads of creatures associated with my music, especially ‘Disco Démon’ who has been on all my covers apart from ‘Géométries Insensibles’. I think that when I work on an album and start getting a handful of songs together, it’s important for me to have some sort of narrative or world associated with those tracks. It really helps too with musical cohesion and what would fit within that world musically or thematically. ‘Between The Funk And The Fear’ was a tongue in cheek homage to horror movies soundtrack à la Goblin and John Carpenter while ‘Pizza Conspiracy’s’ theme was Congolese music/Hip hop beat tape on acid. I’m working on so many news songs right now and I have a few story threads in mind but the one I’m focusing on has been done to death, so I need to find my own spin on it. The weirder the better and I’m sure I will come up with some bizzarro interpretation of a mainstream genre.
“I tend to gravitate towards more bass heavy and midrange sounds”
I’m really impressed with the very “warm” sounding recordings. How do you do it?
Thank you, I’m glad you say that because “warm” is always a quality that I look for when selecting synthesizers and drum sounds as well as effects. I tend to gravitate towards more bass heavy and midrange sounds, which I think adds more depth sonically and lends that “warm” sound you mentioned to the recordings. More high end frequencies usually sound very “thin” to me.
Do you consider your releases as conceptual art?
Not at all, music is my life, but I can’t stand musicians and artists who take themselves too seriously. As you probably noticed with my album covers and song titles, I put the emphasis on the absurd and being tongue in cheek. I think you can put together a cohesive album with a strong visual identity and still keep a lighthearted, playful approach to your music.
Then there’s 2020 ‘Pizza Conspiracy’. What’s the conspiracy behind it, haha?
Lol, no conspiracy whatsoever. My friend Jason is a graphic designer and he made up a design on his Instagram depicting a pizza pie with an eye and the title “Pizza Conspiracy”. It was so absurd; I fell in love instantly and asked him if I could steal his title and use the concept for an LP cover art. Luckily he agreed, and I think the title also became pretty fitting with the absolute disgrace of a government and the rumors of fake news we had in the US for the last 4 years.
Are you involved in any other projects or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?
I’m in the middle of my first production job for a LA based band. It is so fun! I can’t really talk much about it yet, but this has been an awesome experience so far. I’m also working on so many new songs right now that the only other project I get involved in is remixing songs for other people.
Can we discuss your involvement with Stereolab? Would it be possible for you to choose a few moments that still warm your heart?
Sure, it’s been a while though. I joined them in 1995 when I was 21 and played with them until 2001. We toured so much within these 6 years, so I learnt a lot about performing live. A few of my favorite moments are playing Central Park for only my 6th gig with the band (John Cale was the support act), it was a magical day. I also remember Eddie Vedder complimenting my keyboard playing after a show in Seattle and hanging out at a party at his place afterwards; he is the nicest guy you could ever meet. Playing in Santiago de Chile was wild too, the audience were bouncing up and down so much that the whole theater was shaking and felt like it was about to crumble at any second. It was also super fun to travel to so many cool places like Brazil, Australia, and Japan.
As a musician, how are you dealing with the pandemic? What are some of your predictions? Do you think we will enjoy live music even more when things will “normalize” or will live streaming take over?
I’ve always been a homebody so if anything, I now have more time for music and working on new songs. I think there will a huge spike in concert tickets sales once things open up a bit more, but I’m unsure whether it will plateau or will change the live music industry as we know it. I’m not super impressed with live streaming right now as there’s tons of technical issues but I can see it remaining active for a little while longer. What is super impressive though on a tech point of view is how live events company had to pivot so quickly to change their business models in order to survive. I was kind of blown away by that!
Thank you. Last word is yours.
Se vidiva kmalu! [“See you soon” in Slovenian]
Klemen Breznikar
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