Interview with Stephane Wrembel
Contents
Stephane Wrembel is a guitarist.
The Treadmills of Your Mind
Max Raskin: How do you drink your coffee?
Stephane Wrembel: Black – it’s a hard subject because today I quit putting stuff in it.
MR: Why?
SW: Because I'm in a phase where I need to lose weight. I’m in a zone that feels like those birds when the petroleum boats break. Those birds that are gluey.
MR: Do you drink alcohol?
SW: No.
MR: Why not?
SW: I don't take drugs, I don't drink alcohol. I don't know. I like my mind to be crystal clear. There's some form of transcendence in a clear mind, you know? And I'm always in control of my mind.
MR: Do you like to meditate?
SW: I don't really love it, but sometimes I like it or need it. I do it when I want. I don't make it a habit. I practiced a lot of meditation when I was young. I can put myself in a meditative state, like almost instantly.
MR: Is there a kind of music that gets you into that state?
SW: No, meditation is meditation. It's something different.
MR: How long have you been playing classical music?
SW: I started when I was four – classical piano.
MR: But didn’t you just start playing classical guitar?
SW: Yeah, with the pandemic . . . with the lockdown. Let’s be precise about terms. Language is important.
MR: What is it like learning a new style when you're already so good at one style? Is it frustrating ever?
SW: No. It's not because I know how it works. First, I develop muscle memory.
MR: Do you have a teacher?
SW: His name is Simon Lilley. He has a school called Bolton Guitar Studio, and he is in England – Manchester.
MR: What was the first class like?
SW: We learned a couple mazurkas from Tárrega.
MR: What has this done to you – learning the new style?
SW: I understand harmony better. It clicks with Django also. It's really organized around harmony. Because you play finger you can also separate the voices. It would be like doing boxing and then doing French boxing or karate and you’re like “Oh I can use my legs like that also.”
MR: Did you ever do martial arts?
SW: Yeah. French boxing when I was young.
MR: What's the difference between French boxing and regular boxing?
SW: You use your legs. It's very violent. It’s the toughest form of boxing.
MR: Were you aggressive when you were younger?
SW: Not really. I never was very aggressive.
MR: Were you a good boxer?
SW: I don't think so. But I had good legs. My forte is the legs.
Ravel and Bronski Beat
MR: What's your favorite of your albums?
SW: Oh, it's hard to say. Maybe Terre Des Hommes.
MR: I thought you were gonna say Django L'Impressionniste?
SW: It's different – it’s Django. I always prefer my music than a Django album. I'm very proud of the Django the Impressionist because I'm the first one to have done that. It was so much work and I put the light on that repertoire. My students start to learn it. Everyone wants to learn it. The book is gonna go out.
MR: What was one of your most listened-to recordings over the last year?
SW: I listen to Ravel a lot.
MR: Is there a single song you’ve listened to more than others?
SW: I love “Gaspard de la Nuit.” I can listen to the piano stuff a lot. The five “Miroirs.”
MR: Do you have any shitty music you listen to?
SW: Oh yeah, oh yeah. Tons of 80’s stuff.
MR: What’s your guilty pleasure?
SW: I like those French artists like Jeanne Mas. I like Bronski Beat.
MR: Is there a song you like by them?
SW: “Smalltown Boy” and “I Feel Love.” I love Depeche Mode. Sandra’s “Maria Magdalena” – the things I had a child. Music is made of two things: things that you like and things that are part of your memory. It's sort of soundtrack-ish. You know? Everything is a soundtrack.
Strawberry, White, and Blue
MR: Are you proud to be an American?
SW: Oh yeah.
MR: What does it mean to you to be an American?
SW: You know, I like freedom. Really the bottom line of it is that is you can be yourself. That's why I don't see myself as being a conservative or Democrat or a liberal or something. I'm nothing like that. Zero. I have no interest in these things. That's why I like America because I can be a musician. And read my philosophy. Teach people, make a living – be on my two feet. I don't ask anything to anyone. I don't need anyone to give me anything. I do it myself.
MR: Is there anything you miss food wise from France?
SW: Nah because now it's so global it's kind of the same thing. But I must say that the quality of the vegetables and the fruit is way better in France.
MR: What do you miss?
SW: The strawberries in France – they really taste like strawberry. And they have a lot of sugar. Same thing with the raspberries. They're never bitter. They're always super sweet. Same thing with the cantaloupe. The only cantaloupe we have are those Tuscan cantaloupes. So juicy and sugary.
MR: Do you care about food? Is it very important for you?
SW: No – I just need to eat and then I’m done. Two slices of bread with a bit of butter and a slice of ham. I eat that and I’m done, I’m fine.
I like grapes.
MR: Do you like them frozen? Have you ever had them frozen?
SW: No.
MR: They’re very good.
SW: Probably.
Twin Peaks
MR: Do you have any guilty pleasure books that you read?
SW: Yeah, I like science fiction. I read Dune from time to time. Stephen King too.
MR: Which is your favorite Stephen King book.
SW: The Dark Tower. Although I didn't read the last 50 pages.
MR: Why not?
SW: Because it seems to me that this book should have no end.
MR: Do you ever re-watch TV shows?
SW: Yes. For me, it's David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
MR: What do you like about it?
SW: I think we live in Twin Peaks – we live in the Black Lodge and I don’t think people realize it. I think everything David Lynch did – Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Fire Walk with Me, Eraserhead – everything revolves around Twin Peaks. And I think that Twin Peaks is the closest explanation of reality we have.
MR: Why?
SW: You have to watch it. You cannot put words on reality.
You watch it again and again and again. It’s not something you understand rationally. That's why it's so amazing. It's completely irrational and completely in the subconscious.
MR: Do you believe in the subconscious?
SW: There is no believe or not believing. There is conscious, there is subconscious, collective subconscious, and there is the rational. The subconscious is the boss. The rational is just a tool. There is no life in the rational mind. Life is something else. Life is the subconscious . . .
MR: What about your dreams – do you take your dreams seriously?
SW: Very seriously. Every night I dream, and I try to learn from them. And sometimes they are very intense dreams. I told you about my dream. The intense one that I had in January. I had such an intense dream, man. But an enlightening dream. This is a higher level of dreaming.
MR: Do you think about it even now?
SW: Oh yeah. I got some vital information in that dream.
MR: When did you become interested in in these in deeper things? Were you always like this?
SW: Yeah. When I was three years old walking at recess in pre-school, I used to walk alone and think about the nature of the universe. What is what is this made of? It's like a haze. There's no substance to it. The things you think are solid, they're not solid. They're in your head. It's all in your head. You never see reality. That's exactly the premise of Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation.
MR: What was the first philosophy book you ever read?
SW: The Republic.
MR: And what are you reading now?
SW: Right now, I'm reading On the Genealogy of Morality. I’m also reading The Leviathan.
MR: Let me ask you a stupid question. Do you floss?
SW: Yeah.
MR: Everyday?
SW: Yeah.
MR: What kind of shoes do you wear?
SW: OluKai is I think the brand – I was supposed to throw them out a year ago – they were old and crappy. But then I was like, “Oh, there’s that confinement. I’ll just wear them during the time of the lockdown.” They are all shredded and stuff now. But I make a point of wearing them until the very very very very very end.
MR: What’s the first thing you usually play when you practice?
SW: Segovia scales. Then I practice my pieces.
MR: Do you ever play electric guitar?
SW: Yeah.
MR: Were you ever in a rock band?
SW: When I was young. It’s all the same thing. When I play with my guys it’s like a rock band.
MR: Well, you guys rock harder than most rock bands.
SW: Yeah, it’s an energy, you know?
MR: How do you think about painting?
SW: I don't think?
MR: Did you ever paint?
SW: I love painting. I love drawing. I mean I’m scared of painting. But I did a few of my album covers. I love comic books.
Moebius. The greatest. Alejandro Jodorowsky – they worked together.
MR: And what do you like about comic books?
SW: Things are not things are not rational, man. I cannot give you a rational answer to something that's completely irrational. Why do you like strawberries? I don't know – I like strawberries. Why do you like Pink Floyd? I don't know – I like Pink Floyd.
MR: If someone asked me why I like the Grateful Dead I would think about it and then spend time dissecting it and I’d cut it up until the thing was dead. But you just know certain things hit you certain ways.
SW: That's it. I don't go further than that. But when I practice music, it's different than listening to music. When I listen to music, I don't care. There are things that I like and there are things that I don’t like. But sometimes I know that there are things I don't like, but I study them because they’re very well done.
MR: What’s an example?
SW: I don't really like Handel. But I will listen to Handel to understand. I don't like some of the Mozart symphonies. I really couldn’t care less. But when I listen to them in my musician mode, I love them.
DjanGOOAALL!!!
MR: Will you just put Django on sometimes?
SW: Yeah, when I drive. Sometimes with the band. When people come over.
MR: But you listen more to classical – since when?
SW: Years.
MR: You have a claim to being the best Django player in the world –
SW: That doesn’t exist.
MR: Well, you’re certainly better than me.
SW: There’s Django and there’s much to learn from Django.
MR: Do you ever think about any of his boring habits, like what he ate for breakfast?
SW: Never. I don't care about that – I listen to the music.
I'm not interested in gossip or people's habits and stuff like that. I think that's useless information that you put in your mind. This is how I see it.
MR: That's where I'm going to end the interview, by the way.
SW: When you read Zarathustra it’s hyper relevant. But knowing if Nietzsche liked coffee – I don’t really care.
MR: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
SW: I mean, my life is extremely simple.
MR: Do you watch sports?
SW: Ah, yes. There you go. I watch the results of soccer games in Europe.
MR: Do you watch the games?
SW: No.
MR: You just watch the results?
SW: Yes. I know everything about the Italian League, the French League, the German League, and the English league. I know exactly what's going on the Champions League. I don't know why – because it's useless. It's a waste of time. But sometimes, like once a day, I’m gonna log in. I'm just like, “Oh, wow. Manchester City is still crunching everyone because Pep Guardiola is such a genius coach.” I do that a little bit, and then I'm just like, “Yech that’s useless crap in your mind.” So I go back to my things. But sometimes you need to go down and land for a minute, you know?