MC: Working with chartbusters, is it almost silly to ask if Giorgio Moroder, former chartbuster and the godfather of electronic dance music, is determined to have a hit record in 2015?
Moroder: Oh, absolutely! I wouldn’t do anything right now, especially at my age, that would only be played on the oldies station. I did that stuff 30 years ago; now I want to do what people love to hear now, absolutely. But, even though I’m very happy with this record, if I do a next one I think it will probably be even more adventurous. I don’t know how long EDM is going to survive in the next years, but [my music would] maybe be a little more cutting edge, so that not only would I get people interested in what I do now but in some of the songs I would hopefully create some new sounds.
MC: Back in the day, you were making current pop music while you were inventing the electronic disco that was the foundation of many subgenres of electronic dance music that followed. So you influenced two audiences––the pop audience and the electronic dance music audience. But how do you feel about these crowds merging now that EDM has become the new pop?
Moroder: Yeah, you are right. Basically EDM could not survive if you only had people who liked electronic music or people who like pop; it’s a great combination. The other interesting thing is, when I DJ, I now can do what I could probably not do 10 years ago, because not everybody remembered my songs.
But now, due to the Internet, the young kids––and I mean 18-20 year-olds––they know my songs, and I’m completely surprised. And in that regard, my audience is from young to the 40s and some over 50 who grew up with my music. So it’s very interesting, this large amount of different ages in my audience.
MC: Younger fans looking for your old music, that kind of makes you a legacy artist. There have been a few reissues, but much of your solo work has yet to be reissued domestically. Are you interested in getting people to buy your back catalog?
Moroder: It’s great that they come out with the old catalog and revive a little bit of the interest in it, but I’m much more interested in seeing what’s happening now. You know, the old stuff is great, and some bad, and it’s nice to have, but you know we live in 2015.
MC: Your ‘70s “I Feel Love” sound was so monumental and influential, but what do you make of your ‘80s soundtracks inspiring the new artists of synth wave and retro wave like Kavinsky on the Drive soundtrack, for example?
Moroder: It’s quite interesting. You mention Kavinsky, or actually Cliff Martinez, who did the music for Drive: when I first heard it I said, “Wow! Is this a sample of one of my sounds from a movie?” So I was surprised at how well it worked. I must say, the style is pretty much the same but the sounds are really good. The sounds today, especially the ones Cliff and Trent [Reznor] use, are sounds that I would not have been able to create at the time. But it’s interesting that Trent won the Oscar for The Social Network using the kind of style that I used in my early soundtracks.
MC: Déjà vu is a bit like what you did with Donna Summer on I Remember Yesterday, where you paid tribute to the past, present and future (“I Feel Love”); is that what you were going for again?
Moroder: I was thinking I should have great rhythm––not really EDM. But then there would have to be a reminder that there was a disco time, especially in the song with Sia, where I added the guitars, the strings and the Fender Rhodes. I didn’t want to go completely, “the disco days.” I wish I would have an idea––not necessarily a sound because there are plenty of new sounds––but a new style of recording.
You know, I’m going to promote this album for several months, and then I’m going to start thinking what the next sound or style will be. I have to work, you know, try things out, basically do what Skrillex and others did so well with the dubstep. But I have to come up with something, which is today, and hopefully somewhat of a future sound.
