French artist extraordinaire Franck Rivoire, producing under the moniker Danger, has become notorious amongst many and recognized for his exceptional synth heavy production, that he describes as ‘French Touch new electro’. His music evokes complexity and a sense of darkness, stirring the emotions of his devotees, causing an insatiable desire for more. I’ve often envisioned Danger’s music playing in the background to an Osamu Tezuka anime, which seems quite fitting given his childhood influences.

Just five years back, Danger was a self-proclaimed chiptune geek, creating game music. His direction changed and his music has flourished since the days of past and in recent months, Danger has remixed tracks for Midnight Juggernauts, ‘Into the Galaxy‘ and Sébastien Tellier, ‘Divine‘. But it was his first few brilliant productions, ‘11h30‘, ‘14H54‘, ‘19H11‘, that paved the way for what was to come. Signed to the Parisian label Ekler’o’shock, Danger continues to push the limits of his craft, taking us into the future. As a long time favorite of mine, I wanted to know what is behind the mind of Danger, so a few months back, I exchanged a bit of Q&A with him. After a long delay and the responses properly translated, here you have his answers in French and English.

Lovestar: Who is Danger? Please give some background history

Danger: Je suis illustrateur et graphiste, je suis très imaginatif et j’aime raconter des histoires, et communiquer des sensations. J’ai passé une certaine partie de ma jeunesse devant des écrans d’ordinateur , des livres, et des consoles de jeux, je fais des bandes dessinées, j’adore le cinéma, l’art, les jeux vidéos et les synthétiseurs.

I’m an illustrator and graphic designer, I’m very imaginative and I love to tell stories, and convey sensations. I passed part of my youth in front of computer screens, in books, and game consoles. I do comic books, I love cinema, art, video games and synthesizers.

Lovestar: Tell us about the music that you are producing

Danger: J’imagine mes musiques comme des émotions simples. Mon avenir c’est de continuer à suivre simplement ce que j’ai envie de faire ressentir. Beaucoup d’entres nous parlent à “l’enfance” en faisant ce genre de musique, je m’en rends compte et j’ai d’autant plus envie de donner une vision de l’enfance qui est la plus fidèle à ce que je suis et à ce que j’ai été.

J’essaye de ne pas penser qu’à la musique quand je compose mais aussi à des images et à des sensations, d’ailleurs le fait que je sois graphiste et illustrateur m’aide à m’écarter du seul chemin musical, qui n’est pas le mien.

Je vais faire pas mal de lives dans un futur proche dans lequels j’utiliserai la vidéo et l’animation plus d’autres surprises mystèrieuses.

I picture my music like simple emotions. My path is to continue to follow that which I have the desire to experience again. A lot of other people talk to us about “childhood” in making this kind of music. I realize this and I really want to give a vision of a childhood that is the most faithful to that which I am and that which I have been.

I try not to think about just the music when I’m composing, but also the feelings and images. Otherwise, the fact that I’m a graphic artist and illustrator helps separate me from a single musical path that’s not mine.

I’m going to do a few live shows in the near future in which I will utilize video, animation, and other mysterious suprises.

Lovestar: Your tracks are all named with numbers and letters. Are these random or do they have meaning?

Danger: Disons que je pense qu’une heure est aussi évocatrice d’un sentiment qu’un titre littéraire. Je passe ma vie à faire attention à l’heure et je trouve sincèrement qu’un 20h45 ou un 14h porte déjà en lui tout un tas de sentiments, alors imaginez 14h54, c’est un truc de fou.

Let’s say that I think that an hour is just as evocative of a feeling as the title of a piece of literature. I go through life paying attention to the hour and I really find that no other time than an 8:45 PM or a 2 pm already brings a whole barrel of feelings… so imagine 2:54 PM, it’s something crazy.

Lovestar: Are you still working as a graphic designer and do you create your own artwork?

Danger: Yes still drawing :) It’s important for me to be sure to create what I want to communicate.

Lovestar: What went into creating your latest EP, 09.14.2007?

Danger: A first step for me…:)

Lovestar: Your music has a lot of expression to it, I could see it being played in a Japanimation movie or a Speed Racer scene – Do you know of Speed Racer? Have you ever thought of scoring your music in a film?

Danger: It would be great, that’s a long time dream.

Lovestar: What was it about the label Ekler’o’shock that made you want them to represent you?

Danger: I really liked the Ekler’o’shock artists.

Lovestar: A comment left by a fan on the Ekler’o’shock My Space said that “if Daft Punk and Justice had sex, their lovechild would be Danger”. What do you make of this?

Danger: Je pense qu’on a raison de comparer les artistes entre eux et de leur trouver des ressemblances mais généralement ces ressemblances viennent plus de références communes plus anciennes mes references viennent des jeux videos de ma vie, des films que j’ai vu et je pense pouvoir raconter d’autres choses que Justice et Daft Punk, des artistes que j’aime beaucoup pourtant.

I think that we’re right to compare artists between themselves and find their resemblances but generally these similarities come more from common references that are older. My references come from the video games of my life, the films that I’ve seen, and I think the ability to relate about things other than Justice and Daft Punk, artists that nevertheless I like a lot.

Sébastien Tellier - Divine (Danger Remix)
on Record Makers

Midnight Juggernauts - Into the Galaxy (Danger Remix)

We Are Scientists - Chick Lit (Danger TV Remix Edit)

Danger - 11h30

Danger - North America Tour Dates
Sept 11 2008 8PM / Abby Pub / CHICAGO, Illinois
Sept 12 2008 8PM / The Estate / BOSTON, Massachusetts
Sept 13 2008 8PM / The Social / TORONTO, Ontario
Sept 14 2008 8PM / LAX / LOS ANGELES, California
Sept 16 2008 8PM / Cinespace / LOS ANGELES, California
Sept 18 2008 8PM / Julliards / CALGARY, Alberta
Sept 19 2008 8PM / Mezzanine / SAN FRANCISCO, California
Sept 20 2008 8PM / Pasaje / MEXICO CITY, México